Individualized support for people affected by pandemic available 7 days a week at The Salvation Army.
WACO, TX (3/31/20) — As the days and weeks of stress and strain weigh heavily on the nation, The Salvation Army has established a place anyone affected by COVID-19 can call for emotional and spiritual support. The Emotional and Spiritual Care (ESC) Hotline is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (CST), seven days a week at (844) 458-HOPE (844-458-4673). A team of ESC specialists, made up of Salvation Army Officers and trained employees, are avilabable to help callers, in both English and Spanish
The specific goal of the hotline is to offer assistance to people overcome with worry or undue stress caused by the pandemic. Callers will find people ready to listen to their concerns and pray with them.
“Our goal is to give people an opportunity to connect with someone who will hear their story and concerns. We hope to offer a calming presence in the midst of circumstances none of us has ever experienced before,” said Major James Taylor. “The Salvation Army wants people to know they are not alone and that even though we might not be able to meet them face to face, we care, want to listen and are as close as a phone call.”
The hotline, which started taking calls Friday, March 27, received a number of calls its first weekend including a mother dealing with the additional stress of two weeks of home schooling her children for the first time, another individual seeking advice and prayer while facing the potential loss of their home, and a young man coping with the reality of being furloughed from his job. All callers expressed their gratitude for the opportuntiy to speak with someone and receive prayer. If needed, callers will be referred to additional helpful resources when possible.
Immediate physical needs in the community such as providing meals through our Community Kitchen, groceries through the food pantry, shelters for the homeless, hygiene supplies, and emergency assistance will continue to be addressed by The Salvation Army during this crisis. Facilities remain open, while our Thrift Store was required to close.
Emotional and spiritual care is an integral part of year-round Salvation Army service. Particularly evident during times of natural disaster, The Salvation Army ‘s Emergency Disaster Services teams are known for being the first on the scene to provide food and hydration for first responders, front-line workers and survivors. In addition to meeting those physical needs, the Army also focuses on the emotional and spiritual well-being of those impacted in all sorts of catastrophic events. Though this pandemic is a new situation for the world, the service provided by The Salvation Army to help those affected has decades of experience behind it. Trained ESC staff and volunteers work alongside mobile feeding units as they minister to hurting communities. “Ministry of Presence” training is available to staff and volunteers as part of The Salvation Army’s ongoing training program.
“The Salvation Army is here to help during this time of heightened need, said Major Taylor. “We understand physical needs are just one aspect of this. We also want people to know we are here – trained and ready – to pray with and encourage them throughout this crisis.”
To contribute to The Salvation Army’s ongoing efforts in your community, please visit give.salvationarmytexas.org, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or mail a check to 4721 W.Waco Drive, Waco, TX, 76710. Donations of supplies are also needed, including bottled water for take-out meals, groceries, cleaning items, etc. please contact our local office at 254-756-7271 for details.
By Kristi Pereira
When the staff from McLennan Community College’s Continuing Education Department left for Spring Break, none of us imagined the adjustments and decisions to which we would return due to COVID-19. I would venture to say most of our community can relate. As more news and facts were released about the virus, we made daily, sometimes hourly shifts with classes and trainings offered through Community Programs, Corporate Training, Health & Human Services, and the Highlander Ranch.
It would have been easy to default to frustration, but instead, like the rest of the faculty, staff, and administration, we chose to see this as an opportunity for growth and creativity. And while we have had to postpone and even cancel some classes, we have not halted our services to the community.
Community Programs continues to offer classes, but virtually, such as an online breadmaking class that was held this past weekend, Photoshop for Artistic Expression, Hand Lettering, and Pizza Making to name a few. Other instructors have come forward, and are in the process of developing and proposing online content for our community as well.
Corporate Training has utilized an online format called Ed2Go as an alternative to face to face courses. They redirected any course that had an equivalent to Ed2Go, and created virtual courses where there was not. In fact, there are a number of courses and topic areas available on the Continuing Education Ed2Go page that anyone in the community can access. The page can be found at https://www.ed2go.com/mccandyou/ Furthermore, Health & Human Services has also transitioned both Nurse Aide and Medication Aide training to an online format and simulation lab training.
We want to commend all of you who have taken on the challenge of pivoting to virtual offerings for your students, clients, and customers. I think we’ve all learned a thing or two about technology and what it has to offer over the past few weeks. We hope you are able to find an opportunity during what might be a slower time to learn a new skill, or take advantage of some personal or professional development opportunities through McLennan Community College Continuing Education. In turn you will not only personally benefit, but you will be supporting local instructors, entrepreneurs, and business owners who provide Continuing Education courses for us. For those interested in participating in a Continuing Education class, you may register online at cereg.mclennan.edu, or give us a call at 254-299-8888.
MCC Continuing Education remains committed to our personal mission to engage, enrich, and educate our community. Overall, we encourage you to do the same, and never stop learning.
Kristi Pereira is the Coordinator of Community Programs for McLennan Community College Continuing Education. She and her husband, Hermann and two children have called Waco home for the past 13 years. Kristi loves Waco, reading, being outdoors, and spending quality time with family and friends.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
March is National Reading Month, a whole month designated to encouraging Americans – and by extension Wacoans – to read! The Act Locally Waco blog is beating the drum for National Reading Month by hosting a blog series throughout the month of March, called “Books Matter.” Every day throughout March we will be sharing a post about a Waco resident and a book that matters to him/her. Thank you to students from the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media and professor Amber Adamson for help with this fun project. To read all the blog posts so far, click here.
“To quote my daughter’s favorite movie, Frozen 2, ‘Do the next right thing,’” Dillon Meek said.
Meek, a local lawyer and city council member, first read The Hiding Place in the 6th grade and then reread it about two years ago.
“It’s a true story, which I think makes it all the more compelling, but it reads like a fiction-adventure book about a family who chooses to do the right thing in the midst of really negative consequences,” Meek said.
The Hiding Place is an autobiography written by Corrie Ten Boom about how her family hid Jews in their watch shop in Poland during the height of Nazi power. This dangerous endeavor saved the lives of countless Jews, but resulted in the arrest and ultimately, the imprisonment of Ten Boom’s whole family. Once in the concentration camp, Ten Boom and her family were able to continue their ministry by showing the love and kindness of Christ to those around them.
“They weren’t looking to be these great figures of social justice,” Meek said. “But the war and the Holocaust happened around them, and they just responded as they believed they were required to. I think they did so lovingly and with dignity to the people around them. Obviously unafraid of the consequences to themselves, and I think ultimately carrying love completely, which I think is profound too.”
Meek said he believes that this story of hope and doing the right thing can continue to inspire people today as it shows how everyday people can choose to have a positive impact on the world around them. This is also a story of sacrifice, and Meek said this story encourages the people of Waco to ask the question of how they can have a positive impact in their world where there might be injustice around them.
“In Waco, for me specifically, there is generational poverty and I [think] there are solutions to resolving that,” Meek said. “My heart and my hope is that we can bring creative and innovative changes to our system to break generational poverty. That’s very different than responding to Nazis but it’s recognizing that there’s change, there’s positive impact in my world and so as an ordinary person, what can I do?”
By Glenn Robinson and Jim Morrison
We anticipate several new words will be added to the Oxford English Dictionary before the end of 2020, including “shelter in place” — the act of remaining safely indoors with the exception of essential activities. With the recent mandates from city and county leadership to follow this practice, many people are asking if it can really make a difference.
The answer to that question is “yes.”
By sheltering in place, we can all help slow the spread of COVID-19. While it may mean adjusting to a new, inconvenient, or uncomfortable way of life, these temporary changes can make a big difference in our community and our world.
In times of uncertainty, Texans rise to the challenge.
You may be thinking, “I feel fine, so a quick beach vacation can’t hurt anyone. I’m not sick.” But we have now learned that people can spread this infection before they even know they’re sick. Regardless of your current health or your personal level of risk, the effectiveness of shelter in place hinges on each of us doing our part to stay home.
When you do need to leave your house for essential activities, it is important to practice “physical distancing” — our second buzzword, meaning to deliberately increase the physical space between you and others (at least six feet). This applies to all people, whether you are at-risk, symptomatic, or completely healthy.
It takes a strong community of Texans to heal Texas.
Physical distancing is not easy. You may feel disconnected or isolated from your family, friends, and loved ones. But, by physical distancing, we are actually coming together as a community in a powerful way. We are uniting under a shared goal: to keep our community healthy and strong.
Our healthcare system is working tirelessly each day to care for those in need and to prepare for an influx of patients. But we need your help. We are urging you, your friends, and your loved ones to help keep the healthy healthy by staying in, keeping a safe distance between others, and washing your hands often. By doing this, you can help us “flatten the curve” — our last buzzword, which means avoiding a huge increase of sick people at the same time and, instead, spreading out the number of new cases over a longer period of time. The goal of flattening the curve is to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed and allow them to better manage their resources.
Texans stand together, even while physically apart.
Thank you for helping us protect each other and our community. Please stay home, follow proper handwashing, and check out other guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These are challenging times we’re facing, but we are in it together!
Glenn Robinson, President, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Hillcrest
Jim Morrison, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Hillcrest
What does it feel like to be new to Waco? What would a new person notice about our town? What’s it like to try to find your place in our community? Ferrell Foster is moving to Waco from Georgetown to become a part of the Prosper Waco team. In this blog series he will share some of his experiences as a Waco newbie. What will we see when we look at Waco through his fresh eyes? Read along to find out! To see all the posts in this series, click here: New to Waco. – ALW
By Ferrell Foster
Boxes and totes line the foyer. Bookshelves stand empty. One week before moving day and everything is chaotic in the Foster household. Those boxes, totes, and bookshelves do not know they will soon be traveling to the Heart of Texas — Waco.
Moving is always disruptive, and this one is happening during a pandemic. I wonder if our new neighbors will be glad to see us. I do not expect them to bring over cookies, but maybe we can wave from a safe distance.
Act Locally Waco is letting me share a little of what it’s like for one family to move to Waco. We move out of our Georgetown home on April 1 (we must be fools), sign the papers on April 2, and move into our Waco home on April 3. All things in the Foster house are pointing to those three days.
But there is a dark cloud hovering above us like a tornado-ripe storm — COVID-19. You keep your eyes on it; it would be dangerous to not do so. It’s swirling; the color is ominous; it threatens here and there. And you wonder if it’s going to bring a disaster.
We’ve been told that title and moving companies are providing essential services. They surely are essential to us, but we do not want to be too self-centered.
My biggest fear: the title company in Georgetown is open and we close on selling our current home but then get to Waco and we cannot close on our new one. Yikes! I hope my friends in Waco like my family and me enough to house us.
That’s just fear working in my head. Faith keeps us moving — no pun intended.
Since early February, I’ve been working in Waco and commuting the 70 miles along I-35. That is until we non-essentials needed to work from home.
I’ve been in and through Waco many times, but I have discovered so much more about the city the past few weeks. Like, the best small bookstore around — Fabled — and there is nothing more essential to making a town my home than a bookstore. I’ve been praying for them during this mess; they simply must survive.
My wife did most of the house hunting. I got called in for only the most promising possibilities. But even in those few visits the drives took me here and there in Waco. There is a lot more to this town than I-35 travelers or silo visitors ever discover.
I still recall some of the houses we visited. There’s the one with the beautiful, old live oak in the backyard. I so wanted to buy that house so I could climb that tree like the ones I did as a kid. I probably would have fallen to my death, so it may be good that we didn’t go for that one.
Then there was the really funky house that I loved because it was different and interesting. Only problem: The second-floor master bedroom looked over into a unkempt (and I’m being kind) backyard behind the house. We didn’t think a 20-feet-tall privacy fence would work.
And probably our favorite house sat behind a warehouse with giant, loud fans sucking the air out of the neighborhood. Put that house somewhere else, and it would have been ours. Every house search leaves you with at least one memory of what might have been.
I share this about house hunting to illustrate an important point about good communities — we are never alone. Trese and I moved from the country to Georgetown almost six years ago. We had to re-learn what it meant to be a good neighbor because in the country we could pretty much do as we pleased. Not so in town.
I suspect some people in this rooted yet emerging city would just as soon people like me stay away. They liked the “old” Waco. I suspect I would have liked the old Waco, as well. But there is no reason we cannot like the “new” Waco just as much.
Cities change by growing or declining; they do not simply remain the same. Most of us want to be part of where good things are happening, where we can have jobs and friends and sports and theater and parks and libraries and on and on.
A growing city can provide such a healthy environment for its residents and businesses, but it is also possible to have growth that is unbridled and destructive to the common good. What I have seen in my first weeks of work in Waco is that this city and county have the kind of leaders who want the best kind of growth and the best kind of environment for nurturing our lives, our families, and our friends.
COVID-19 will pass. It will forever change some of the ways we do things, but the leaders of this city and county have shown that they really do care about making Waco the best it can be, not just another city where the humanity of people gets lost in the mechanisms of government and commerce. It must be worked for; I hope to work with my new neighbors.
By the way, I’m not a Baylor alum, but I learned some time ago to Sic’em Bears.
Ferrell Foster is content specialist for care and communications at Prosper Waco. He and his wife, Trese, have five adult children and five grandchildren. He is a native Texan, having grown up in Dallas.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
March is National Reading Month, a whole month designated to encouraging Americans – and by extension Wacoans – to read! The Act Locally Waco blog is beating the drum for National Reading Month by hosting a blog series throughout the month of March, called “Books Matter.” Every day throughout March we will be sharing a post about a Waco resident and a book that matters to him/her. Thank you to students from the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media and professor Amber Adamson for help with this fun project. To read all the blog posts so far, click here.
By Grace Shaw
Savanna Cabrera, a student at McLennan Community College, said she believes the Nancy Drew series has impacted feminine culture today.
Cabrera said she struggled with reading growing up. When she found the Nancy Drew series, it sparked a love of reading and helped her out of her weakness.
When she was in the library one day in middle school, she found one book in the series and decided to read it. She began reading many in the series. This series motivated her to love reading and gain perspective on social constructs of societal expectations of women.
The Nancy Drew series taught Cabrera to break cultural gender stereotypes and to be “daring and courageous.”
The Nancy Drew series has influenced many women to be valiant and bold, to go out of their comfort zones, Cabrera said.
“This series is really empowering. The author truly broke the boundary for young girls,” Cabrera said. “She broke all the cultural stereotypes for what people thought a girl should be…She has inspired me to be confident in myself, be brave and daring.”
Cabrera said the protagonist in the series, Nancy Drew, taught her to be confident in middle school. It taught her to let go of her insecurities and be proud of her strengths. This series has been one that has impacted her life and who she is today. Nancy Drew has been a role model that empowered Cabrera to believe in herself.
By The Rev. Aaron M. G. Zimmerman
Jesus said, “Be rude unto others, as you would have them be rude unto you.”
OK, he never said that.
But he might if he were faced with a pandemic.
Let me explain. The day after the mayor’s shelter-in-place order, I went for a run. It’s my favorite way to blow off steam, and like everyone else, I have been pretty stressed in these days of Coronavirus.
As I returned home (feeling much better), I ran into one of my neighbors. He was taking a walk around the block. He approached and we started to chat.
He was about ten feet away.
We talked about the new world of Facebook live-streaming.
He moved a little closer. Eight feet away.
We talked about the challenges of doing church these days.
He got a little closer. Seven feet away.
As the conversation veered into billiards, I started to get nervous. We were about to violate the social distancing six-feet-apart rule. And he’s at risk: He’s older and lives with a 90-year-old.
But I didn’t want to be, you know, not nice. Could I tell him to back up? It felt, well, downright rude! I faced a dilemma: what is proper etiquette during Coronatime?
Then I remembered what Waco’s CEO (Chief Etiquette Officer) Sarah Aynesworth told me: Etiquette is not fundamentally about salad forks and stationery. It’s all about showing hospitality to other people, about honoring and respecting others. In other words, we are polite in order to be kind to others.
This was my realization: in a time of a highly contagious pandemic, when I could be sick and not even know it, when vulnerable people are at great risk, and when medical supplies are in short supply, the most polite thing to do is to be rude.
So here’s what I did. I held up my hand. Just like Diana Ross and the Supremes did in 1965 when they sang “Stop in the Name of Love.” Just like we did in the 1990s when “Talk to the hand” was a thing.
And I told my friend, “I don’t mean to be rude, but for the sake of our families, we better follow this six-feet-apart rule.”
My neighbor graciously backed up.
To paraphrase Elvis Costello, in these days, it’s rude to be kind. So be rude! In the name of love, health, and public safety, be rude.
I invite you to join me in adopting the new Caronavirus salute: Hold up that just-washed-for-twenty-seconds hand and say, “In the name of love, back up!”
It’s what Jesus would do.
The Rev. Aaron M. G. Zimmerman has served as the Rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church since 2013. He co-hosts a popular preaching podcast called Same Old Song (link: https://thesameoldsong.fireside.fm) and serves as a trustee of the Waco Foundation. He is an avid trail runner so keep an eye out for him in Cameron Park, his favorite spot in Waco.
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
By Darryl W. Thomas, Jr.
I am a U.S. Marine (two-time) Wartime Veteran who was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I know first-hand their terrible effects. It can feel like a big black hole at times, sending its victim into an endless spiral of dark times. Over the years, with adequate support and resources, I have drastically improved my mental health. Mentally, I am now in a healthy and peaceful place.
As I sit here, I can’t help but think about the uproar that this COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has caused to echo throughout the world. Many are oppressed by fear, overwhelmed by uncertainty and overtaken by anxiety. During these times, it is natural to focus on self-preservation.
To focus on surviving is not a bad thing; however, to only focus on you is not exactly good, either. Particularly for those of us who are parents, it is important to remember that our children depend on us to model appropriate ways to handle stress and anxiety during tumultuous times such as these.
Healthy self-preservation includes mental health (the way you think, feel and behave) and spiritual wellness (guiding values, principles, morals and beliefs). In many stressful instances, people tend to merely react to a situation instead of responding to a situation. To react, simply, means to impulsively act based on something that happened. To respond means to deliberately act after giving thought to your guiding values, principles morals and beliefs.
I once heard a quote that said, “It’s not the load that breaks you down, but it’s the way that you carry it.” – Author Unknown
I agree 100 percent. In most cases, it isn’t the stress that brings us to our knees. Rather, it is the mismanagement of stress that does so.
As an At-Risk Interventionist, I have more than 20 years of experience working with at-risk youth, teens and young adults. In 2013, I founded a nonprofit called, The Size Of a Man ( www.SizeOfaMan.org ). Through this practice I have learned that healthy, thriving, meaningful relationships are crucial for young people. In addition to working with kids professionally, I have five kids of my own. As parents, we know all-too-well the importance of us maintaining a healthy, thriving relationship with our children. Also, we know that our children learn by example. It is our responsibility and in the best interest of our offspring that we learn to effectively manage stress.
When we, the parents, respond to the stressful times in a responsible manner, we teach our children to do the same. Depending on the strength of that parent-child relationship, our kids tend to follow our lead and respond to stress in the same ways we do.
So, during this global crisis, how should we manage our stress and self-preservation in a way that sets a good example for our kids? I have two suggestions:
Tip #1: Understand that your problems, stressors, and challenges have an expiration date. These difficulties will end, and the stress that they bring will subside if we choose to handle it responsibly. Hopefully this tip liberates you and helps you respond rather than react to your stress.
Tip #2: Remember that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. Even as adults, there are times when we need help. Sometimes we really don’t have the answers to our problems. That’s fine. Be okay with admitting that and seeking out help from someone that you trust. Remember, if you fail to open your mouth and make it known to others that you need help, then you more than likely won’t get the help that you need.
In my humble opinion, this COVID-19 pandemic will soon pass, but the memories that you create during this time will likely outlive you. Don’t just react – Respond. Stay safe!
Darryl W. Thomas, Jr., affectionately known as Coach D, is a former at-risk youth turned U.S. Marine and Champion for the Underdog. With more than 20 years of experience working with the at-risk youth, teens and young adults, Coach D has dedicated his time, energy and life’s work to inspiring, challenging and empowering the underdogs to win in the face of adversity and hardships. He is a motivational speaker, published author, life coach, at-risk interventionist, and, most importantly, a family man. If you would like more tips on how to help your teen navigate through anxiety and depression, then checkout https://www.DarrylWThomas.com .
The Act Locally Waco blog publishes posts with a connection to these aspirations for Waco. If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email [email protected] for more information.
March is National Reading Month, a whole month designated to encouraging Americans – and by extension Wacoans – to read! The Act Locally Waco blog is beating the drum for National Reading Month by hosting a blog series throughout the month of March, called “Books Matter.” Every day throughout March we will be sharing a post about a Waco resident and a book that matters to him/her. Thank you to students from the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media and professor Amber Adamson for help with this fun project. To read all the blog posts so far, click here.
By Brittney Matthews
Books are valued primarily for education and creativity, but local librarian Sarah Freeland values books most for the connection they provide within communities.
Books have a different impact on each individual and for Freeland the book “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery is the book that has had the biggest impact on her. It’s about Anne, a young orphan girl, who lives on Prince Edward Island and gets adopted by a family, when the family thought they were adopting a boy. Anne uses writing and storytelling to cope with the darkness in her world. In the end, the family falls in love with her. Throughout the series, the reader walks alongside Anne and her life up to adulthood.
“It really is this wonderful story of family and community,” Freeland said. “But for me, I love the way you see community connecting through story… and it’s her stories that connect people and unite them.”
Freeland said this book impacted her by connecting her to other people who had read the book. It amazed her how this book could create a common ground of understanding between two people.
“I think reading really gives you the opportunity to explore, engage with and connect with people that are different from you,” Freeland said.
Freeland encourages others to read “Anne of Green Gables” because Montgomery doesn’t shy away from the hardness of reality, while at the same time showing that there’s more than difficulty in life.
“You have that [difficulty] but you also have this sense of imagination with a positive outlook,” Freeland said. “There is opportunity for joy and wonder. That to me is really encouraging.”
As a librarian, Freeland sees firsthand how books impact people in the community. For Freeland, being a librarian means assisting people in making the connections that books create within the community and helping others grow in their love for books.
March is National Reading Month, a whole month designated to encouraging Americans – and by extension Wacoans – to read! The Act Locally Waco blog is beating the drum for National Reading Month by hosting a blog series throughout the month of March, called “Books Matter.” Every day throughout March we will be sharing a post about a Waco resident and a book that matters to him/her. Thank you to students from the Baylor Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media and professor Amber Adamson for help with this fun project. To read all the blog posts so far, click here.
By Cole Grafton
Books have the ability to change the way the reader sees the world. For Rick Tullis, “Goodbye to a River” by John Graves helped him connect with nature and the world around him.
Tullis is the president of Capstone Mechanical, a local engineering and construction company.
“‘Goodbye to a River’ appealed to me because it’s about Texas rivers,” Tullis said. “I love rivers and love being around them or on them, and so that’s what attracted me to go and read the book.”
Tullis explained that the book was an autobiography of John Graves’ two week trip down the Brazos River, where he had spent many of his summers growing up.
“They were installing lots of dams along the river, and there were several other ones proposed at the time. So he said, ‘OK one last chance, I’m going to get in the canoe and float down the river,” Tullis said. “And he’s a great storyteller, so his book is not only about his journey down the river, but he tells kind of the history of the different parts along the way.”
Tullis then explained how the book reminded him of his own life and experiences that are similar to the adventures described by Graves.
“This book matters to me because I’ve got a little farm on the middle Bosque which flows into the Brazos, where he was. And 20 years ago with a friend of mine, I kayaked from Crawford down to Lake Waco, and it was just totally awesome,” Tullis said. “I felt like I was in a totally different part of the country. It was so beautiful.”
The similarities between the lives of Tullis and Graves have helped Tullis to see the river in a new perspective, and to better appreciate Graves’ trip down the Brazos.
“I connect with the way he sees the life on the river and … the connection to history, but also to the animals, and the plants and the life that a river brings to an area,” Tullis said. “And so I get it. I see that whenever I go out to the river myself, and I can really connect with how the author views those things.”