Dear
family and friends,
I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of
snow. At this time last year we, in
Bevier, had bunches of the white stuff, and many snow days. To students and of course teachers, nothing
is more pleasing to the ear than “No school; it’s a snow day!” So far it feels almost like Florida
weather. I say that because I know that
will be the only way my grandparents who live in The Villages, Florida will
come up to visit during the winter months.
I am a sophomore this year and
absolutely love attending school. I have
great teachers and good friends. Some of
my teachers have gone beyond teaching.
Gayla Pappenfoht, my English teacher is not only a brilliant instructor
but a true friend to me and my mother.
She recently researched the use of Ipads with children with autism and
found out that was the technology I needed.
Once again, our superintendent Joan Patrick wrote a grant, and just
today we found out it was approved. This
should make my school life so much easier especially in algebra. Recently I was given the honor of being
accepted into National Honor Society; a dream come true for me. I continue to love swimming, being outside
and traveling, however I aspire to become an author someday; one other thing Mrs.
Pappenfoht is helping me pursue.
One of the people I want to write
about as soon as I have been published, is my sister Dominica Jean. She personifies goodness in every aspect of
her life. She is a senior, president of
student council, member of National Honor Society and class vice president. She has always loved playing the French horn
in Bevier’s concert band and plays beautifully.
This year I am sure she would say music has moved up on her interest
scale. For the first time in her school career,
there is a jazz band class, which she loves.
She plays the trumpet and has proven to be quite the musician. For a small school they have an amazing
sound. They have been playing for many
different events and are enjoying their success. She still loves all sports and has been
honored accordingly; 3rd in state in 100 meter hurdles; first team
all conference, district, and region in basketball; and first team all
conference, district and region in softball as well as second team all
state. Her team surprised everyone and
made it to the quarterfinals. She was
thrilled, as was the whole town. She has
signed with William Woods University to play basketball and track. For those of you who know, yes this is where
my mom went to college. However, there
was no pressure- Dominica fell in love with the school on the first visit. I am glad she is so close. We will be able to see her games and
meets. More important to me, than her
accomplishments, is her integrity, loyalty and compassion. She is thinking of majoring in special
education. She has the love and
compassion and strong work ethic to be a great teacher. I hope she finds the happiness she deserves.
Janet, my mom, is still my right-hand
man. However, following me around is not
all she can do. Always thinking of my future,
she designed an apparatus that I use when taking most of my tests. Instead of hand to hand facilitation, this
apparatus was designed to eliminate the body to body facilitation, making me
more independent. So, last summer before
school started, she talked over her design with Gayla Pappenfoht, Joan Patrick,
and another friend and welder, David Cheever.
After a lengthy discussion, David and his friend Kyle constructed six of
them that are now placed on every desk I use, in every classroom. I affectionately named her design, “Big David”.
Not only to show my gratitude toward David Cheever, but for those of you from Bevier,
I’m sure you get my drift. For those of
you who are not; that was the name of the big coal shovel when Bevier was a
booming, mining community. So now my mom
can add technical designer to her list of accomplishments. She continues coaching Dominica’s basketball
team. However, she says this is her last
year so we can go watch Dominica in college.
I’m sure she will miss it, since we seldom see her watch anything else
on TV except women’s basketball. She also
loves the St. Louis Cardinals, with or without Albert Pujols. She laughingly says, “I have never had a Pujols
shirt, but I own a World Series, Matheny shirt!”
Jamie, my dad, has had an extremely
hard year. I, for one, have realized the
love and loyalty toward his family is immeasurable. Operating and being the sole owner and
pharmacist at Laplata Pharmacy, is now a smaller part of his day. Last March, his grandmother was placed in
Loch Haven nursing home in Macon and has remained there since that time. We celebrated her 94th birthday in
August in her room at the nursing home.
Daddy along with Noni’s (as Dominica and I call her) husband, Pa, visit
her every day. Daddy has taken full
responsibility for their care and comfort.
He provides for their needs and transportation without complaint. Every day either Dominica or my mom takes Pa
to the nursing home and every night, Daddy goes to visit and bring Pa
home. He has decorated Noni’s room with
pictures and now, even a Christmas tree.
I am honored to be the son of such a person. His time is not his own and yet he believes
he is repaying his grandparents for all the time they helped him in the past. He has very little free time, so when he has
down time you can find him in his “Harley room” at home, watching TV, and
rocking away his stress.
As the year closes, I hope all is well
with you. As for the Prokups we still
have our door open for anyone who may want to visit. We all love company and have plenty of room
for overnight visitors. Don’t be
bothered by the enormous lab (Sparky) outside, the yapping schnauzer (Eddie)
inside, or the three-legged cat, Jeannie.
They too love the constant excitement of our revolving door bringing one
party or another. Come in and enjoy with
us!
Love,
Antonio
Merry
Christmas From:
Jamie,
Janet, Dominica, Antonio, Eddie, and Sparky
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