My Friend the Squirrel

This was a letter I wrote to Marc and Andy on Sept. 22, 2006 while they were on their missions:

Hello all,

I just thought I'd check in once again. It's been a little while since I've written, and it's been a long while since I've talked to some of you (Elder Marcus Bailey takes 1st place for that one), so I figured I let you in on some of the things that have been
happening around here.

First of all, if you didn't know it already, Marc and Andy, Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, died about a week ago. A sting ray stung him in the heart with one of its barbs. This may seem odd to some of you, but I loved Steve Irwin. I loved him long before he was ever the Crocodile Hunter! Me and Ed Allshouse used to watch his show when it was called The Steve Irwin
Show, and I'm pretty sure those were the days when I decided I wanted to work in a zoo. His passion for God's creations developed a passion in me. I even made Dad buy a set of CD's for the computer so I could start learning about all the animals in the world, and someday, be as knowledgable in the field as the Aussie. Anyway, his death was kind of sad for me. It put me in a sombre mood all day, and it didn't help that I would be at work washing dishes for another seven hours.

After a while, I was let on break. I took a banana-nut muffin with me and went and sat on a little bench under a tree, secluded from the rest of campus. As I sat eating my muffin, I noticed a visitor tip-toeing slowly towards me. "Crikey!" I thought. "A squirrel!" I smiled at "the beautiful animal" and he immediately backed off a coulple feet. I took a little piece of my banana-nut muffin and held it out for him. He took a couple steps forward, but wouldn't go any further. "Don't worry little fella! I'm not gonna hurt ya." I continued to hold my hand out, and eventually, the squirrel realized that I really wasn't going to hurt him. So he walked right up to me and took the chunk out of my hand. Then he scurried off a couple feet to
eat, eyeing me while chewed. I continued to eat my muffin and he continued to come up to me for more crumbs. And I spent the rest of my break with that little squirrel.

Later that night (I'll be brief with this one), I was taking out the trash, and in the middle of the path, I saw what I thought was a rather large cat staring at me. When I realized there's no way a cat could grow to that size, I became a little wary and started walking slower towards the animal. The animal, whatever it was, spooked and darted right for me. "Crikey!" I thought. "Don't be upset, you little bugga!" I got out of the way, and he darted for the bushes. I knelt down to see if I couldn't make out what it was, and there he was, a raccoon, "a magnificent animal!" staring back at me through the leaves. I threw out a piece of bread from the trash towards him. He calmly walked out, grabbed the bread and walked back into the bushes. There he sat, eyeing me as he ate the tasty morsel.

I've been back to both of those spots several times since, but haven't seen my friends. I take comfort knowing that if we don't meet again in this life, I'll be able to see them in the next. And what's more, I may even get to sit around with Betsy, Buster, Sasha, Pepsi, Tiggy, and others, and perhaps Steve himself will join us all for some hot cocoa and a game of Animal Kingdom. Wouldn't that be great.

One more thing: George Lucas has decided to donate $175 million to the cinema school, which will be called The School of Cinematic Arts from now on (upon his request). It's the largest donation ever for USC and will be used to upgrade our facilities. Pretty sweet, eh? Unfortunately, I think I'll be done by the time any of it takes effect. But still. 175 Mil is pretty sweet in and of itself.

Until we meet again,
Douglas

Kamryn

My niece, Kamryn has been faithfully emailing me for a few months now. And before she figured out how simple it was to dictate to her father what she wanted to send me electronically, she used to send handwritten letters in the mail. It's been a joy to recieve them in both forms. One of the drawback of living in California is being away from "the girlies," and Jackson and Colin and Max and the rest of the family. But Kami's letters make it easier. What follows is one of our correspondences:

Dear Doug and Frannie,
Before I say anything, about the joke I get it now.
Well anyway how's it going over there?
I mean like how's the weather over there and thing's.
Oh. And how's Frannie. Is she pregnentyet!
I almost fogot I'll ask my parent's for the trip Frannie and you to Doug.
Your's Forever,
Kamryn B. Bailey

Howdy, Kamchatka!

I hope you like your new nick name. If not, too bad so sad.

The weather over here is quite remarkable. It's about 85 degrees in the valley, which is where I work, and it's about 75 degrees in the city, and it's about 70 degrees at the beaches. Isn't it crazy that there can so many different temperatures in one city?! That's because the ocean cools off the beaches, and the breeze cools off the city, but then it gets blocked by the mountains, so the valley just gets all the sun and no breeze. That's why it's so much hotter here.

Luckily, me and Frannie live in the city where it's nice and cool most of the time.

We're almost done with school. Just two months left, and then we're free from school forever!!! We're going to have to get real jobs and work all the time like your old man. But it'll be okay because I'm going to like my job.

Also, Uncle Marc is coming out to visit in a couple weeks. He's going to check out one of the film schools out here. I think he wants to be a producer. That would be awesome because then we could team up and be partners like the Warner Brothers.

So, things are going well! Frannie's not pregnant yet, but we'll let you know when she is. Keep your fingers crossed.

I love you and can't wait to see you again! Say hi to your mom and popps for me and all your sisters.

Love,
Douglas Wade

PS what are you going to be for Halloween? What about your sisters?

Pasadena Birthing Project

I've been working with a Non-profit agency for my writing class in the USC School of Business. This is a write-up I did for them that summarizes their mission, the problem they're working to solve, and the solution. While it isn't formatted in the pretty way it is on Word, and doesn't have the pretty pictures, you get the idea. It's a great cause, and I'm happy to be a part of it.

WHY THE PASADENA BIRTHING PROJECT ?

"Children are an heritage of the Lord"
-Psalms 127:3


For One who has created the beautiful Earth on which we and all Life dwell, there must be something very special about what the Lord himself claims is His heritage. Of all that He made – the waters of the sea, the rocks that form mountains, the leaves that adorn the forest trees, the billowing clouds of heaven and the stars that shine at night, all creatures great and small, from the birds above to the fish beneath – of all of the magnificent creations of this earth, children are His legacy.

This certainly says something about the worth of a child in God’s eyes, and hopefully gives us a greater appreciation for them as well. We have all surely felt the warmth of a child’s smile in our heart or experienced the calm that can come from their innocent presence. They make the world’s burdens light and shine hope into what would otherwise be hopeless situations.

But beyond their capacity to make our lives better lies their divine right to experience life for themselves. A child deserves the opportunity not only to bring their light into the world, but also to develop it, and utilize it in order to achieve their divine potential.

THE PROBLEM

Unfortunately, as is the case in many urban areas around the country, the African American community in Pasadena has a high rate of infant mortality. In other words, a high rate of babies die either while the mother is giving birth or at some point during their first year of life, thereby ending their opportunity to bring their light into the world. In a country as blessed as the United States, with its wealth of medical knowledge and resources, this is simply unacceptable. It points not necessarily to a failure in the system, but to a lack of education about the system.

Mothers, for whatever reason, do not or cannot access the resources they need to keep themselves and their baby healthy during this critical time in the their development. This problem, more often than not, can be solved simply by connecting the person in need with the services available.

THE SOLUTION

The Pasadena Birthing Project provides that connection: a mentor, who by providing direction, emotional support and education to the mother, will help keep her and her baby alive and healthy. This mentor will be there for the mother during pregnancy, and will continue to support her for one year after the birth of the child. In most circumstances, the mother will now be fully capable of providing for the health and well being of her child, and will be able to give that child the chance to shine his or her light into the world.

THE FAMILY

The family is the most basic and fundamentally important unit in society. It is within the walls of a home where a child learns his or her worth in the eyes of God, and learns the worth of his brothers and sisters, his mother and father. Love is learned in the home, and skills are taught that will enable the child to function in society and interact with the world.

Every child deserves to be born into this kind of family atmosphere, within the bonds of matrimony, to be reared by a mother and father who honor each other and their obligations as parents. While this family unit is the ideal, many people find themselves in a variety of other circumstances, including single-parent families (a situation especially prevalent within the Black Community). But God loves all his children, without exception, regardless of the family situations in which they find themselves, and the Birthing Project seeks to make His love felt by creating an “extended family” for the mother and child.

Each volunteer woman claims one pregnant teen or woman as her “sister,” thus enabling every woman to have a Sister Friend and every child to have an Aunt. This Sister Friend will make sure her sister is getting the proper prenatal care during pregnancy, she will be with her sister during labor, and she will be there to welcome the child into the world.

Other volunteer women claim the grandmothers of the newly born children (often women who simply didn’t expect to become grandmothers this early in life) and become their Mother Friend. Mother Friends are grandmothers themselves, and as such, have gained precious wisdom through their life experience, which they can then impart to the new grandmothers.

During the next year, the Mother Friend will continue in her role, and the Sister Friend will continue her in her role, teaching her sister essential parenting and life skills: how to find housing, transportation, child care, drug rehabilitation, etc., and how to set and achieve educational and/or employment goals. The Sister Friend imparts her time, her love, her experience and wisdom to help her sister be the mother she was destined to be.

The “extended family” that has been forged by these new relationships will serve to provide an environment of love and affection, and will be a refuge from the storms of life. In this family, the child will be given the opportunity to shine.

update

Just thought I'd post something since I haven't posted anything for a while. I've been busy with school and work (which actually isn't "work" because I'm not getting paid yet, but that doesn't mean I'm not working) and not a whole lot has been going on around here. Classes are going well. I have wonderful teachers, as usual. Since coming to USC, I've had wonderful teachers. My wonderful teachers this semester are wonderful both in their personalities, and in their knowledge of the field. I'm taking a couple of Russian classes to complete my minor in Russian Area Studies: Modern Russian Literature and Foreign Policy of Russia and the Soviet Union. My professor of the latter worked at the Pentagon for ten years during the Cold War, analyzing the Soviets' moves and advising our country's leaders what moves to make next. Needless to say, he's got a pretty interesting background and foundation for teaching the course. My other class is Writing for Business, which is a required course, and the only requirement left for me to graduate. It's too much work for my liking, but our professor is forcing us to go above and beyond the comfort zone, and any time you're forced to do that, you learn. You stretch beyond what you thought you were capable of. That's happened for me in many of the film production courses I've taken, it happened on my mission, it happened in high school basketball practice - you push yourself beyond what you can take, and you find that you're able to go that far the next time you push yourself. We're also working with non-profit organizations as a part of the class, and I chose to team with the Pasadena Birthing Project, an organization that is trying to combat the infant mortality rate in the black community. They provide pregnant girls with "sister friends," mentors who help them through their pregnancy and stay with them for a year after the birth of the child, making sure they're going to their doctors' appointments and staying healthy, etc. It's a great cause, and I'm helping with writing some of their job descriptions and putting together an employee manual. The last class I'm taking this semester is called the Art and Industry of the Theatrical Film. It's a case study of Spider Man III (of all movies!). Every week, we get some of the professionals who worked on the set to tell us about what a nightmare it was to work on the set, and then we get to ask them questions. It's rather enlightening!

So on top of the classes, I'm here at WhiteLight Entertainment, answering phones, running errands, and doing my own homework, as well as writing a script for Jason Berman and Mike Jenson. I'm on the third draft right now, and hope to be DONE in the next couple weeks. It's been a long and arduous process, more so than I thought it would be. Hopefully, it'll pay off $$$...

Other than all that, I've had the privelage of spending time with Frances. Every spare minute we have, we spend together. And that, I must say, is the perfect remedy for heavy load I bear throughout the week. She seems to be able to take it all off my back the second I see her smile as she gets off that bus. And the load drifts upward I walk her home through the dark streets of downtown los angeles. It's a beautiful thing. She's a beautiful thing...