Honoring Our Sister Tonya

A good friend from church, Tonya Watt, passed away on Saturday, April 23, 2011. On Friday, April 22, Tonya was driving home from Washington, D.C. with her 9-year-old son Dylan when she suffered a hemorrhagic aneurysm, from which a single car collision ensued. Although her Mustang flipped over on the highway, Dylan was miraculously uninjured from the crash. Tonya was taken to the hospital with internal bleeding in her abdomen and brain. She underwent emergency surgery, but the Lord called her home soon afterwards.

This is one of those times that it just doesn't make sense. Why would God choose to take a single mother from her son? Why would He separate such an inseparable mother and son? So far, nobody has been able to satisfy themselves with an answer. I think that is because if we could understand everything, God wouldn't seem as big as He does now. One of the things that was mentioned at Tonya's funeral today was that death is one of the ways in which God reminds us that this world is not our home. When that was first brought up, I thought, "No, duh." But the more that I thought about it, I realized how true that is. Because of Tonya's death, we are reminded that this life is not all there is. That we will see her again. But also, that she is better off than we are right now. Not only is she gone from the problems of the world, but she is free from fear, from pain, and from sin. A good friend said to me this week, "You know, I almost envy her. She is face-to-face with Jesus." Another friend said on Easter, "As we celebrate what was accomplished on her behalf and mine through the Cross this Easter weekend; I get to thank Him for those scared hands while she gets to hold them." Wow.

In the moment and in our humanity, it does not and cannot completely squelch our grief. She will be missed. Tonya was such a blessing to our church and to Ben and I personally. She was always willing to help; she served others with a passion that I love and admire. My last memory of Tonya was her contribution to my senior research project on music listening and its effects on sleep quality. Without even letting me finish my request that she be one of my subjects, Tonya enthusiastically said, "Tell me what to do!" A few weeks later, after several of my subjects "fell through" on their promise to fill out the required survey for 10 days, Tonya beckoned me out to her car so I could retrieve the precious data. That's just the kind of person she was. It really makes me want to have that kind of care for people -- the kind where you don't go back on our word because you "forgot" or "were too busy." She was organized, yes, but she was first and foremost loving to people. And she loved until the very end.

We will miss our sister Tonya, but we are confident that we will see her again, when we are all basking in the beautiful presence of our Savior and singing the praises of the One who has rescued us.

Random News

Last night I returned from the North Carolina Music Therapy conference. It was a great time spent learning different approaches to the field as well as more "tricks of the trade." One session was a lead by a speech-language pathologist and a music therapist; they both brought some special creativity into working with developmental disabilities. I loved the combination of research and creativity -- definitely my kind of thing. If you're working with kids, yes, it should be fun; however, CAN YOU SUPPORT IT EMPIRICALLY? They did both, and I got a lot out of it. The second session was all about how to market yourself as a music therapist. Many of the MTs there did at least part of their work as private contracting with nursing homes, schools, and service companies for disabilities. It was cool to hear about their experiences as well as different ways to get your name out. I took notes to put on file. :)

I got home around 9:30, and Ben was as happy to have me home as I was to be there. His kiddos at school were pretty crazy because it was their last day until spring break. He relayed his final conversation with a student to whom he had given Options (detention) when they returned from break. The student was not happy with the outcome of their conversation; he was trying to make excuses and Ben calmly fielded each one. The conversation ended with Ben telling the student, "You do not have the last word. I will see you after break." and sending him on his way. I think that it must take a special person to teach middle school....maybe I'm a little biased. :)

After I got home, we spent some time catching up, then watched the Will Ferrel episode of The Office. I was pleasantly surprised. Will Ferrel did a good job integrating into the show instead of making it a totally different thing. I must say, he's going to have to work pretty hard to do anything that can stand up to Steve Carrell.

This is the best Saturday we've had that I can think of. At least it's been a while. We slept in, woke up slow, and had breakfast -- all three are uncommon for us lately! Ben made the best coffee for me as well. He doesn't even drink it but it's the perfect balance of bold and light, and I had a treat of chocolate raspberry creamer to go with it. We made plans for a yummy dinner while we sat around and I drank coffee :) and then Ben went for a run while I started on the final stages of my senior research paper. I'm not sure how I managed to do this, but I have not had to make a table in Excel for the entirety of high school or college - go figure. Now, in the final weeks of my bachelor's degree, I was faced with this very daunting task. After trying on my own (and failing) to create tables, Ben helped me make some gorgeous graphs to insert into my growing project. We alternated between spreadsheets and chicken marinade as our friends are coming over later this evening. I spent a few hours tweaking and proofing, then sent it off to a friend for critique. I will be incredibly happy to have this out of my hands. It is due Monday, so when 9:45am rolls around, I will be a very happy lady!

Tonight we have our delicious dinner to look forward to - baked chicken, green beans, and roasted potatoes, as well as brownies that Jake & Mitzi are bringing for dessert. Now to get the house cleaned up and ready for company.

It has been a fantastic weekend so far.

Introducing.....Us! :)

Keeping a blog is something that I have always wanted to do, and we've finally done it. We decided to do it NOW as there are some changes on the horizon for us, and we wanted to find a good way to keep friends and family up-to-date on our adventures.

Our adventure together began on August 7, 2010 when we were married in Greenville, NC. The last eight months have been wild - class, part-time jobs, writing papers, keeping house together, very little sleep, homework, lots and lots of music, and learning how to love one another like Jesus loves us. In just a few short weeks we'll be walking across a platform to finalize the "student" season of our life together (Ben has a summer session still to take, but it's still so close!).

Recently, God has placed some exciting opportunities before us, and they start down south! Earlier this month, I was offered a music therapy internship at Hospice of Palm Beach County, Inc. September will mark the beginning of the final stage of my path to MT-BC (Music Therapist, Board Certified), and I look forward to the opportunities and challenges that this internship will provide! In the meantime, Ben will finish his Master of Arts in Teaching degree in June, and is currently applying for jobs in the West Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale area. So, long story short....

........we're almost real-life grown-ups! Here's an aerial view of our new home: