We all have a "first".

Ok, this is my first post.

I was drawn to this site by Mark & Angela and their insistence that I come and see. Come and see pictures of their wonderful children who have adopted me as "Uncle Charlie" and whom I've greatly missed since my move from SEArk to the Shenandoah Valley 2.25 years ago. I love the title and I love being a part of their family!

Anyway, for the past several months I have enjoyed reading their blogs (a word about which I am less than thrilled), heckling them with my typically snide remarks, and, on occasion, praising them for their insight and honesty. Due to my pestering, Angela even busted me out with a photo and surprisingly kind description. This, perhaps, to prod me into doing a blog; unsuccessfully so. Finally I noticed a comment on one of Angela's site from "The Zoo Keeper" and it lead me to Valerie's site (which I didn't know existed until my investigations). Wanting to bolster her hard work, I had to comment. However, it wouldn't allow me to post unless I had an account - intelligent safety setting. Therefore, I succumbed to their temptations and signed up in order to comment. For this reason alone, I did it without much hesitation.

I had decided that I wasn't going to post anything myself, basically because I'm not into the idea of putting my thoughts out there to be critiqued. Nonetheless, I am here. I've decided to post because last Wednesday, the 6th of September, I was lucky enough to be invited to a dinner with documentary film maker Heather Courtney. Coincidentally, she grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; a fellow homelander. As part of our "Convocation series" at Bridgewater College, where I teach Spanish & French, there was a showing of her documentary "Letters from the Other Side". I have to believe that nearly everyone there experienced a VERY moving event.

Fortunately for me, this film was very a propos as I teach a class at Bridgewater called, PDP 150. It's a freshmen required course in which they're taught transistional skills from high school to college and, most important, the skills of critical thinking, reading, and writing. This is the initiation to a career-long process of the Personal Development Program at BC. My approach, or theme for the class, if you will, is to always know the other side of anyone or any issue before making any judgement. I believe that we can only truly have understanding by experiencing, to some degree or another, what others go through before we can criticize. This film fits perfectly into my approach. It demonstrates, via a series of video letters, over a period of a year plus, how the illegal immigration issue affects families on both sides of the border. It's **very** well done, quite powerful and delivers a clear, unbiased message. I encourage you to see it. Arkansans who may be reading this, I know that she is showing her film at the Hot Springs film festival in October. Perhaps, if you can't make it there, Mark can use his powerful persuasion techniques to have it brought to UAM as part of HSFF's outreach to SEARK.