Category: Mental Health

What Cardinal Cushing School Meant to Me

Posted on by Gregory Wood
I came to Cardinal Cushing School through a family member that was a priest. At the age of 7 my father drove me up from New Jersey in his green and white 1957 Chevy.
I remember the green trees and the rainy day as we drove on to the school grounds. I came to the school because my parents were concerned about my learning disability, mental retardation, and behavior problems. The school was home for to me for 9 years since my family was spread out in different parts of the world.
Sr. Shawn and Cardinal Cushing made all of us feel special despite our limitations. I received structure and values from the school that I still operate with today. I was baptized and confirmed by Cardinal Cushing. I was an alter boy every day after being confirmed. I enjoyed singing in the choir and played a clarinet in the school band. When Cardinal Cushing came to visit the school we had a special high mass for him, which I loved. I worked around the school on the weekends. I enjoyed working with Sr. Magdalena in the kitchen. I loved to play baseball and YAZ was my baseball idol. Sr. Jovita was the number one Red Sox fan at the school.  I took part in one of the first Special Olympic events held behind the baseball field.  Sr. Rita organized a class trip to Washington, DC and the highlight was meeting Sen. Ted Kennedy and Congressman Tip O Neil.  
When Cardinal Cushing died it was a sad day. The day of his burial at the Portiuncula chapel as we sang at the chapel doors you could see the large crowd in the parking lot.  
 When I came to Cardinal Cushing my goal was to graduate from high school.  After graduating from St. Coletta I attended Gables Academy in Miami, Florida.  After a year my father was transferred to Houston, Texas and I completed high school with a lot of help and determination. From there we moved to Connecticut. I attended Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut. After successful completion I was able to transfer to Texas Christian University and obtain a degree in Business Administration. Since college I have had to face many challenges in the employment world due to my background and limitations. This lack of knowledge has put me through more jobs than the average person. The safe start and the values system that St. Coletta provided me kept me from going down a lot of wrong paths. 

 

Staying Healthy during Covid

Posted on by Gregory Wood

Here is a picture of my user friendly mask. I wanted to share my experience of the Covid lock down. As a person on the spectrum I do struggle with adjusting to changes. I struggled with depression the first few days of the lockdown due to the stock market taking a real big hit.

Once I adjusted to the lockdown I found some of the places I like to go, but the service and delivery wasn’t consistent. Each store had different rules depending who you spoke with. I dislike surprises and find it hard to adjust to changes if it is very fluid. I like to be prepared so I can follow the rules.  For example, when I go though TSA at the airport I am always prepared, even at pre-check with my carry on bag  so there are no issues. Some days I feel the lock down is like dealing with the TSA. Different counties in the Dallas area have different guidelines. When that happens I can get frustrated and angry. I did struggle with the mask thing because it made me feel anxious.  Plus my glasses fogged up.

During the lock down I have done 12 step meetings on Zoom. The treatment center I was in a number of years ago developed a support app. It was nice to be reminded of some of the principles I had learned previously. I kept up with my weekly therapy sessions by splitting up one session into 2 short sessions, and I had a virtual weekly energy healing session to keep my body balance.