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Over the course of completing this project, I never really understood exactly how many different literacy experiences I have had. I never took time to think about how much literacy I come into contact with on a daily basis. After the ELAN course and this project, I now realize all of the potential literacy experiences there will be for all of the children that will one day enter my classroom. I completely understand now how literacy is not just simply reading and writing. I assumed those were the types of literacy I was exposed to growing up. Now, I have a much better concept of what literacy is, and I have come to realize I was exposed to so much more. I always knew that literacy was important in shaping a child’s life. Now, I see it as a vital component that is completely inseparable from being alive. Even if there are no books or paper or t.v or writing utensils, a family will always have literacy in some form. It may be singing or storytelling or making puppets or cooking or learning dances. Literacy is such a world-wide phenomenon that I never really thought too much about other than the fact that I knew I needed to choose good children’s books to read to my students.

I understand that as a teacher I will need to constantly remind myself that literacy is so much more than just reading and writing. While I know that I must include reading and writing into my classroom on a daily basis, I know feel that it is imperative to use as many other literacy methods as possible. I say use what the kids know and love! I think we should sing, dance, do puppet shows, tell stories, look at grocery items, make recipes, and do any other activity that can be thought of to help teach students communication and literacy! I also know that as a teacher, I will most likely not be the like the majority of students in my classroom. I realize that I do have some skills that will make me valuable as a teacher of culturally diverse students, such as being able to love and accept those who are not like myself. I also realize that I will have struggles trying to communicate with some of my students. I feel that even though I will be worlds different from many of my students, I still have ways to build connections with them. I enjoy learning about other people’s culture, and I want to know everything about my students that I possibly can. I want to find ways to get to know my students on a more personal level and create projects for my students to complete where they can all learn about one another. I believe it is also very important for each student to learn about their classmates’ lives, just as important as it is for me as the teacher to learn about their lives. In addition, I think that all teachers should take the opportunity to share their own personal culture with their students. This will allow everyone to get to know each other and understand one another better. After learning about all of the different cultures and backgrounds of the students, it would be much easier to incorporate a little bit of every child’s culture into the classroom or instruction in one way or another.

As a teacher, you have to realize that your literacy experiences are not going to be like that of every child in your classroom. This means providing the resources for students to have more opportunities to different kinds of literacy activities. This also means getting to know your students’ families and talking with them about the literacy experiences they have with their child(ren). It is also imperative that all teachers recognize that students do not come to school completely illiterate. Yes, they may come not knowing how to read or write. That does not mean they have never experienced any type of literacy, because they have indeed experiences it in one form or another. This may mean that as a teacher you have to learn to adapt to a certain student’s form of literacy before being able to reach out to them with the more traditional literacy methods. Each child will arrive with different knowledge and experiences, and a teacher’s job is to use what each student has for the good of the classroom. Teachers should share what all of their students know and do and love and find ways to help them make connections between one another and their experiences.

Every child will not come into the classroom with the mindset that they are there to receive an education to better themselves and get somewhere in life. Not all families instill such values in their children. Some families do not think reading and writing are that important in an individual’s life. All of this proves that we all think a little differently depending on how and where we were raised. As teachers, we have to be conscious of these things and find ways to make the best of our students’ situations. These are the children we especially want to give a reason to love school and show them why it is important to get an education. Yes, we want to teach our students literacy, but we also need to teach them why it is important and teach them skills to help them survive in the outside world.

Looking back, I see that to begin with I saw authentic reading and writing as “good literacy”. I realize now that “good literacy” is much more than that. I see good literacy as being any authentic opportunity where an individual can experience a literacy activity that is relatable to real life. This means not just using reading and writing in the classroom, as I mentioned earlier. Incorporating all of the other amazing forms of literacy into the classroom will produce a much better-rounded student and one who will be able to comprehend many different types of literacy. They will learn valuable skills that can be transferred to other areas of life, and as an individual, will realize that all of their family’s literacy experiences matter – not just the experiences of those who parents read to them every night.

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I chose this image to represent my "I Am Poem", because I am very giving and kind like my poem states. I love to give gifts to any and every one that I can. I ride myself in being a giving and generous person. Therefore, I believe wrapping paper is the best representation of such characteristics. I love people, and I love making people happy. That is just who I am.  It is who I always have been and hope to always be. I may never have many favors returned, but I do not do what I do to have others care for me. All that matters is that I care for others through being giving and kind.

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I am giving and kind

I wonder why there isn’t more love

I hear the needs of others before my own

I see many ways to love many people

I want to make a difference in this world

I am giving and kind

I pretend to be Superwoman, accomplishing all

I feel anxious, yet still grateful and full of hope

I touch the hearts of those whom I meet

I worry there may be a time when I am inadequate

I cry for all of the lost opportunities to help

I am giving and kind

I understand things may not always work out

I say I have faith and I mean it

I dream of a day when my generosity shows

I try to continue to make others happy

I hope one day they will do the same for me

I am giving and kind

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I chose this image as my self-portrait to represent how I see myself. This is a perfect representation of my life. That is one of my puppies, Roxy. As you can see, we both love our sleep! Olive is not pictured, because she was asleep on my husband! This image is taken in my favorite room of the apartment, the living room. It is where a lot of fun things happen. My two green-cheek conures, Mango and Marble are seen in their cage. One of my favorite things to do, create gift baskets, is slightly visible in the corner. This is me being comfortable with who I am. Hoodies, sweats or leggings, no make-up, and my hair up is how I spend the majority of my time. My bow and arrow case is also pictured, because it speaks to how much I love spending time in the woods and looking for birds. My husband and I love to spend time outdoors, and I feel like we don't get the amount of opportunities we used to have to do so. So this image encapsulates me, in my most comfortable state, surrounded by the beings that I love, in my (almost) favorite place in the world, doing one of my most loved activities - relaxing!

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I chose these two images to represent my weaknesses as a teacher of culturally diverse students. I chose the image of our ELL textbook, because I struggle with communicating with English Language Learners when they do not understand what I am saying or asking. I feel like I would need a plethora of help if I received a nonverbal student in my classroom. when I was younger, I was not exposed to many ELL students, so I believe it will be more difficult for me as a teacher to reach out to them. I also chose to include an image of my laptop. I understand that students now know a lot about different technologies. As a teacher of diverse students, I need to know what technologies to use to support all of my students. I struggle with this, because I am not very technology savvy. I know some programs to use with elementary students, I just do not feel like I know enough about them to use them effectively with a classroom full of so many diverse students. As a teacher, I know that I will need to work on communication with students who are not understanding me and having the knowledge about technologies suitable for all types of students in my classroom.

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I chose these two images to represent my strengths as a teacher of culturally diverse students. The cohort that I am a part of has opened my eyes to so many different cultures. We have girls from many different backgrounds, and no two of us have the same story. We are all different and unique in our own way but we make our cohesive whole. I know how to work with each of the lovely ladies I spend so much time with as a team. I also included a print from an artist named Vincent Huertas, who my husband and I met on our honeymoon in Puerto Rico. He created this piece to represent the teachers of the American schools, because we teach so many different kinds of students. When he foudn out that I was going to become a teacher, he was proud to sell us this piece. Each child represents a different nation, and the woman represents the teacher who is there for all of the students. Included in the image are many things the teacher will give as gifts to the students, just as I believe I will do.

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I chose this image of a Christmas tree to represent my favorite tradition that has been passed down by my family. Ever since I was really little, Christmas has always been a really big deal for my family. It always starts right after Thanksgiving with Black Friday shopping. Every year since I was born, I have gone shopping with my father to purchase gifts for my mother while she is out shopping for everyone else. Then the Christmas tree can be put together and decorated. We have always had a fake tree, and the ornaments are swapped around every year. Christmas Eve is with my dad's family. Christmas morning we all wake up early and dig all of the presents out from under the tree. We go aorund in a circle, and every watches you open each of your gifts. This helps you enjoy what everyone else got just as much as your own gifts. Then Christmas evening we go to see my mom's family. These are traditions I would like to continue on now that I am married.

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This image represents another strong belief that my parents taught me from day one. They taught me to believe in family. While everything may not go exactly how every member wants it to, family will still be there for you to love you, support you, and cheer you on. I was taught to believe in families being happy and believe in families being there for one another. This image perfectly captures that sort of mindset. This is my father walking his mother to her car in the rain. He may be grown, but he still vales his family as he always did. That is something I have been taught to do and will continue to do for the emainder of my life.

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I chose this image to represent one of the biggest beliefs that my parents instilled in me. They taught me to believe in prayer. From the time I was very small and even now in my married life, my parents have reminded me to rely on prayer. They taught me to use prayer in bad times and in good. They taught me to believe that with prayer many things are possible, even miracles. I have wholeheartedly taken on this belief. I highly believe in prayer and believe that everyone should try to implement some form of prayer in their life.

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I chose this image to represent my parents teaching me to value all living creatures. While the image I chose does show a young buck, my parents did not just teach me to value the animals outside. They also taught me to value every human life, no matter how small. They never told me not to value people of other races, other colors, other religions, or other sexual orientations. They taught me to value all of them, both born and unborn.

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I chose this image of a sunrise to portray the value my parents gave me to value God's creation. I grew up in a Southern Baptist family where God was preached to me since before I was born. Since my family believes so strongly in God, we see God as the creator of the universe. My parents have always taught me to value all that God has created. All of God's creation includes all the surrounds us in nature, all plants, and all animals. I took this photograh, because at the moment I saw this I took a minute to reflecton just how beautiful God's creation is. I may remember to thinka bout it all the time, but when I do see something so magnificent, I remember who to thank for it.

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I chose this image to represent the value in myself that my parents taught me. I have struggled a lot with self-esteem and confidence my entire life. Through my photography, my parents taught me to have value in myself. They always told me that I had an eye for what creates a great photograph. They do not mind sitting for countless minutes while I show off the latest images I have captured of birds. My parents have always told me that I could get my photographs printed off or published in some magazine. This is one of the biggest boosts of seeing myself as a valuable person. Having good thoughts about yourself in a wonderful value for my parents to have instilled in me.

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I chose an image of the map of the Sugarloaf mall to represent my biggest cultural discomfort. I realized there are not many things that make me uncomfortable about other cultures, and I do not have any real fears culturally speaking. With that being said, this image represents the social anxiety that I have faced my entire life. This image encompasses all of the thoughts of worry about the unknown. I have always wanted to be the person that everyone liked, that no one had anything bad to say about. I have always wanted to feel accepted and like I belong with the people around me. Before I moved to Lawrenceville, there were really only two main cultures in my small town. I knew basically what each thought about certain things.In Lawrenceville, there are so many different cultures of people that I do not know what they think about certain things. Therefore, my discomfort is not knowing what these people think about me. It makes me anxious to wonder what those around me are thinking of me.  I always wonder if they will accept me for me. My biggest struggle is always feeling as if they never will accept me.

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I realized that I have several cultural biases. I did not realize before now that some of the thoughts I have had my entire life count for me being culturally biased. I chose an images of bi-racial couple, a romance novel, and a vaccine. I was raised with the idea that homosexuality was wrong and was not something that should be done. I do not agree with the lifestyle that homosexuals lived. I chose a romance novel to represent the love between a couple. A love I believe should be between a man and a woman. I also was raised to believe that interracial couples were also wrong. I still get uneasy every time I see one, because I cannot decide Biblically if I agree with them or not. I also chose to show a vaccine, because I believe that all parents should have their children vaccinated. I do not believe that vaccinating children puts them at anymore risk for a disease or disorders. I believe that is simply up to their genetic makeup. My sister and I were both vaccinated as children. Yes, we still got sick occasionally, but our vaccinations were not to blame. I also intend to vaccinate any children that I have. With these things being said, this does not mean that I hate any of the people in these categories or will intentionally hurt them. I was taught to love all people regardless of their decisions, and if I did not agree, that does not mean I cannot be friends with them. I will struggle with these things as a teacher. I also believe it will be okay since I was taught to love these people anyway even if I disagree.

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I chose to include an image of my parents in my childhood home, back when they weren't considered middle class. I did not grow up privileged due to the fact that I was born white. My parents were young, broke, and barely scraping by. They worked their way up to middle class throughout my life. I was not just handed everything. I never even got my own car from my parents. They did not pay for me to go to college, I took out loans. Due to my race, I did not receive anything extra. I also included a picture of my hand with my  name. Most of my life people have assumed that I am African American, because my name is Jasmin. I have only ever gotten African American mentor teachers, and people are always surprised that I am white. By giving me my name, my parents ensured that I did not get anywhere without showing who I am as a person. My skin color and name were obsolete.

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I chose to incldue the book titled, "But Not The Hippopotamus" by Sandra Boynton. This is probably the single most important book of my entire childhood. The book pictured is the exact book that sparked my immense love of reading that will never die. My parents bought me an entire set if Sandra Boynton board books when I was a baby. This paticular book just so happened to be my favoite of the bunch. My parents probably read this book to me three million times. By the time I was two years old, I had the entire book memorized cover to cover and knew what words were on which page. I probably read the book back to my parents another three million times. I am sure my deep love for this book also had something to do with the hippopotamus in the story. I have always had a love for animals, and I came to love the hippopotamus very much. I was also sad for her and the fact that no one seemed to invite her to do anything. The best part of the book was always when the line changed to "but yes the hippopotamus!", and I knew she was included with everyone else.

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I chose to include an image of my couch as my favorite place to read and write. I tend to do my best thinking when I am propped up against our colorful pillows or hunched over while resting my bottom on the couch cushions. If I snuggle up with a book, this is the corner I sink into to forget about everything else that is going on around me. If I find inspiration to work on one of my writings or I have a paper due for class, I tend to hunch over somewhere in the middle of this couch. It is a nice cental location in our apartment where I can keep an eye on everything while still getting peace and quiet to do what I love.

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The Boichevichs knew that the only way to preserve their chance of ever having a happy life was to get as far away from Poland as possible. By way of bribery, they were able to coerce their way to Ankara, Turkey- where they had family. Aaron had a brother who moved his own family to Turkey several years prior, because they enjoyed the scenery. One chill September morning in 1937 soon thereafter the move, I was born holding the name Lottie Tikva Boichevich in a small home on the edge of Ankara. The name “Tikva” means hope, something my parents were well acquainted with. They had hope for a better life. A life outside the grasp of poverty and terror. Hope that I would grow up fit to face the world. Hope that I could survive all of life’s adversities and all of the cruel people I would encounter over the course of my life. And hope that one day they could take me to the land of freedom: America. A place, they were told, where you could worship who you pleased and anyone could find a way to make a living. I’ve been told that my father was the first to hold me and that, when he did cradle me in his arms for the first time, a single tear drop ran down his face. He then exclaimed that I was the most precious thing that he had ever seen. My grandmother must’ve smiled from Heaven the day I was born, because I was a tiny babe promising to uphold the virtue most accredited to her name. Everyone was a friend to my grandmother, I’ve heard, and they say she never let someone into her home without them having at least one cup of tea. To me, she sounds like she lived a meaningful life, and I hope that one day someone will glance back and say that I have as well. Many times I was told what a spectacular woman my grandmother was, and, every time, I smiled knowing that one day I may possibly leave a legacy a fraction of the size of hers. What an astounding woman my grandmother must have been! And to think, my parents picked me to carry on in her shoes.

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As an Adult

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As an Adult

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As an Adult

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As an Adult

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As an Adult

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As an Adult

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As an adult, my favorite literacy experiences have changed a little. Now, I do not spend all of my time playing video games and reading with my father or to my little cousins. While I still enjoy playing video games as much as anyone, I have slacked off on the amount of time I spend playing. In addition, I do not spend time reading with my father, but I do spend time reading novels on my own. I absolutely adore both reading and writing and pretty much anything else to do with words. I guess you could say, I have a love for words. My husband and I enjoy playing Scrabble together. It is one of my favorite games, but my husband gets disappointed being as I always win. Again, did I say I love words? Besides the intense Scrabble games with my husband, I enjoy writing poems when I find inspiration and working on my novel when I feel the urge to do so. So my favorite experiences revolve around my love of words.

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I chose to include my favorite literacy experiences as a child to compare with what my favorite literacy experiences are as an adult. As a child, I spent a lot of time doing both of the activities pictured. I played video games with my father all of the time. I am pretty sure he let me win to keep me interested in laying! We started off with a Playstation when I was around three or four years old. He taught me how to use the controller and how to read the instructions for the games. We would play together in the evenings or on the weekends as a bonding experience. We moved on up to the Playstation 2 and the Wii after that, each time spending time learning the new gaming systems and playing together. The other experience I have pictured is reading. This is me "reading" to my little cousin in his room. My parents found us like this and captured the moment. I have always loved reading, becasue my parents read to me from the day I was born. Many times at night, I would get to hear a bedtime story. I began memorizing the books and reading them with my family. Then, when I got a little older my father and I would read books together. Eventually, I began to read to him.

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As a Child

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As a Child

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As a Child

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Favorite Literacy Experiences As a Child

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I chose to include an image of my Reading River to show my everyday literacy practices. It encompasses many of the things that I do on a daily basis. The characters I have drawn symbolize what I consider to be major books of my life. I have represented the first book I memorized the words to at age two, as well as books read to me by my librarian in elementary school. My liteacy practices do not just revolve around books though! I enjoy writing so much that I have a notebook full of poems, and I have even began writing my own novel. The social media sites that I use, as well as the video games that I lay I also consider my everyday practices. Of course, my modes of communication with others are also literacy practices I use quite often.

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I chose this teddy bear as my important object. This is not just a regular old teddy bear. His name is Pookie; he was named after Garfield's stuffed bear. Pookie is special, because he was the first bear my mother gave to my father as a gift. When I was born, my father gave him to me. I used to take Pookie with me everywhere I went. He was a sense of comfort and a sense of connection. Pookie has survived many days of play and many MANY baths in the washing machine. Every Saturday morning, my dad would wake me up with Pookie. He would come into my room and pick Pookie up and make Pookie talk in a special voice. He used the same voice every time, and since my dad and I share the same sense of humor, Pookie never failed to make me laugh. This was not just a childhood thing either. My father would still wake me up some Saturday mornings when I was in high school and even my first college the same way. All just to hear me laugh. Yes, if he did his Pookie routine today, I would STILL laugh just as much.

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My favorite characteristic about myself is my love for serving others. My entire life I have always been apt to help those in need. I crave ways to serve others. I have even been told that I have been given the gift of serving others. I like to think that is true. Over the years, I have served through the March of Dimes, Relay for Life, Forest Park Ministry, Backpacks for Kentucky, Christmas Tree Angel, giving Christmas to the Children's Home, giving Christmas to the nursing home, visiting the nursing home to feed the elderly, and buying Christmas for families with small children who could not afford to do so on their own. However, my favorite way to serve others is through Operation Christmas Child. I started up the ministry at my new church and am in charge of the outreach. It helps me to serve others by serving children in over 100 countires year round, not just around the holidays. If I had the monetary funds, I would chose to spend the majority of my time serving those who are in need in our country and around the world. If I had an unlimited amount of money to help those who need it, I would finds ways to use that money to help them.

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I chose my birthmark as my favorite physical feature. Originally, I had chosen to use my eyes. My eyes connect me to my father. Then, I realized that there was someone else who was connected to me in a more special way, my mother. My mother and I share the same birthmark. I have a heart shaped birthmark on my right forearm. My mother has the same size and shape heart on the left side of her chest. I like to think that this means that we each have two hearts instead of one. As we are both very loving and caring people, I believe that the two heart thing fits both of us. I feel like this also links us together as human beings. We often find ourselves sharing the same emotions and blurting out the same phrases at the same time. It is like we are connected, so I have decided that our birth marks have fostered a connection between us.

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Overall, I like to think that I give more to my name then it has given to me. I do not try to use my name to get me anywhere, and I do not expect it to either. I would rather I get my name somewhere. So what’s in a name? is a good question. But I believe a better question is what can you put in a name?

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Jasmin is actually Persian in origin interestingly enough, but it is also used in Germany as an English variant- spelled with no “e”. I would like to point out that my name refers to a Disney princess, a sweet smelling flower, and a guitar all in one. Each one is so different from the others but they all add up to me. I have a love for music and find myself very sweet. My dad always told me I was a princess- “Every girl is a princess, and her hair is her crown.” So I live up to my name. Marie, on the other hand, has a French origin. It is a cognate of the Hebrew name Miryam. The exact meaning is debated for the name at its origin. Some say it means “sea of bitterness” or “sea of sorrow”. Others believe it to mean “rebellion” or “wished-for child”. I, personally, would prefer that it stands for “wished-for child”.  But again, I was not given this name for any of its meanings. I was given this name simply because it was a pretty name.

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I have always wondered what all was in my name. What force persuaded my parents to name me what they did. Why was I not born an Adam? What would I have been like as Tiffany? Or Stephanie? Has my chosen name gotten me to where I am today, or has it played a part at all? I know that my parents gave me the name Jasmin Marie before I was born. They chose to name me not after a fragrant flower but rather something much more interesting. My father has always been an avid guitar player, and, at the time of my mother’s pregnancy, his favorite acoustic guitar was his Jasmine Takamine. This particular guitar’s serial numbers just so happened to correlate with my due date. Thus, my first name was given. The best part is that my father used to sing me to sleep with that very guitar, and he still plays it today. I feel like this something engrained a love of music in my name before I even knew what music was.