thank you very much MR.

[James]

I know there is an "official" thank you thread for the swap but I didn't want this to get lost . As some of you may have noticed if you saw me at the swap I had a little boy with me who couldn't possibly be my biological son... truth is he is not my son at all but one of my students. He has had a really, REAllY rough time the past couple months and has previously shown an interest in nature and fish in class so I have been trying to introduce him to the hobby and take his mind off his loss (lost his mom unexpectedly and doesn't know his father) a little bit. I just wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone at the swap who made him feel comfortable, whether it was dealing with me trying to get you to say "What's up dog" in a lame attempt to entertain him, offering him stuff for the reef tank he doesnt have (but we are working on it) or letting him sell corals from your tanks; the MR family came through big time. I know the highlight of his day was when I ran some corals home and gave him my raffle tickets, I came back to Wetthumbs booth where he was helping out and he quietly says that we won... I thought he was just joking because he is such a soft spoken kid, nope... seems like my man cleaned up (and then hit me up for his portion of the winnings Just wanted to say thank you to everyone from Randy to Josh to Sanjay and all my friends who helped make 1 day of his life a little brighter.
:happysad:

James

 

[Rayzor]

My wife and I are both NYC PublicSchool teachers and we were at the swap yesterday....we think we remember seeing u and ur friend....and we commend u for ur dedication to ur student....u rock.....not only did u give him a day to get his mind off his troubles....but u also provided him with a real world learning experience.....math, science, language skills, interpersonal relations, etc...i think ur days lesson covered it all......best of luck to you and ur students......

 

[jcolon2]

Wow,

This is a very nice post and a great act you did! Very nice. He was Tina's little helper yesterday : ) Real stories such as this one, pertaining to the kind acts of people, are trully inspirational.

 

[PetShopBoy]

Great thing that you did there! He bagged a couple of my corals/clam from WetThumbs and I am proud to say they are still alive.

Ken

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Hey James, I thought he was yours, hes not? LOL Anyway was a great thing you did. You gotta bring Tyler to the next swap- maybe by then hell have a better tank than some of us!! Anyway kudos again to you and I enjoyed workin with you through the weekend. See ya at the next one.

 

[NL146]

Real stand up thing to do James. My hat's off to you. There's a lot of hurt in this world and we should all have the sense of responsibility that you obviously do. Way to go.

 

[prattreef]

The feel good story of the event if you ask me. James I know you downplay what you do for this kid ( and I'm sure your other students as well), but the kindness and caring you have shown Tyler is above and beyond, and I can only hope my own kid has teachers as dedicated and human as you are (so far he has). Tremendous job my friend for a truly deserving kid who has been dealt a horrible hand through no fault of his own.

You and Tyler are welcome at my place anytime.

 

[fcamargo6thave]

Sorry I was not a the swap but just wanted to tell you know that you are a really good person for doing this and I can tell you have a good heart, its nice to know people still care for others. hey how old is the kid?

 

[James]

Ken, he will be happy to hear that. I will pass it on. He already told me he would like to come back and Tina invited him back (we need to work on his selling voice a bit, and his habit of pulling the frags out of the water to show them off

RD, I downplay it because although the situation he is going through is not ordinary, I feel like my role in it is just what any decent person would do. As I think I told you before, the day after his mother died, his aunt left me a msg to call her and when I did she told me that he wanted to speak with me because I guess I made a connection with him throughout the school year... I lost it. I'm not some big tough guy but I can't remember the last time I cried. I had to put the phone down for a minute. From that day on I think I have just done what anyone put in my situation would do.

FCmargo, he is 11.

Everyone thanks for the well-wishes and make sure to say hi to Tyler at the Winter swap!

James

 

[Chraddam]

Dude-animals and children need help sometimes, and stepping up to the plate and giving of yourself is the highest form of humanity...kudos for doing what needed to be done and showing your true colors. James, you rule. You need ANYTHING to help that kid out, just let me know...I think I have a box of comic books laying around here somewhere that he could have ;-)

 

[grknyer]

+1 with what Randy said. James that what an awesome thing you did. There should be more people like you in this world. I did get a chance to speak with Tyler briefly while to talking to Tina and without knowing this story beforehand I know he was having a great time. Tina and Tyler were laughing it up selling frags.
I hope you don't mind me posting a pic of him I took so everyone can see who we are talking about. If so I will gladly remove it. He gladly posed for the pic.

 

[h2o]

James u are doing great things man, now we got to hook him up with a small tank let me know when u get to it i help u out.

 

[masterswimmer]

James, I love what you're doing. You've effectively pulled on my heartstrings and I'm already in the process of discussing some things to possibly help strengthen your bond with Tyler. Not that you two 'need' any strengthening, especially from the likes of me, but if we can do something to make it easier (and god knows this boy can use a little easy in his life) to help offer him a direction that he has already shown some excitement for, I'd feel as if I didn't do a million times less than what you've already done for him. We'll get back in touch with you to discuss certain things that might work for the two of you.

As tough as things have been for poor Tyler, he could have had all this dumped on him without him having you. God blessed Tyler, with you. And from reading your posts, it appears you've been blessed with Tyler too. Only good can come from this friendship. Knowing you, I know you'll do right by Tyler. Lets see if we can pull some strings to help your new friend.

God bless,
Russ

 

[tomtoothdoc]

educator, even though i didn't get to meet you, i did meet tyler. i didn't know the story but did get to see him smile and had a great time helping out tina. thank you for this heartwarming story. please lmk if there's anything i can do to help.

 

[Awibrandy]

James, it was sooooooooooooo nice to converse with you! What you are doing for Tyler is so special that I don't believe you have any idea how much you are impacting this young child, and even his family. Your example goes a long way my friend. You may have exposed others to something they may have not realized that they too could bring a little sunshine to someone in small ways. Keep being who you are!!!!! And may God bless you in a way that you will never miss, or be able to forget.

 

[NL146]

Hey James, how's Tyler (and your other kids) doing? You probably already thought about this but maybe you could keep a journal, or even encourage Tyler to keep a journal that chronicles his journey.

 

[WT Inc]

James!! you have a BIG HEART !! Bravo to you !! . You always go out of your way to help everyone .
What you do this this kid will light up his heart for the rest of his life!!! . He needs a mentor and you are his guiding angel.
hm..reminds me of some movies .

 

[James]

Tyler has been on MR for a couple weeks now and uses any downtime in his day to surf MR with some of his classmates who have also taken interest to the reef-tank he is keeping in our classroom. So far he hasn't updated the thread (http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/78280-tylers-tank-thread.html)but we have added a bi-color psuedochromis and are hoping to add a little more LR and some LS as well as a cleaner shrimp. Two days ago Tyler, another student Kyrie (Hello Kyrie, I know you will read this) and I had to eliminate some aiptasia. Tyler schooled Kyrie as to why this particular anemone was not a good thing to have in our tank and we dispatched of it quickly. It was fun, we used a plastic science lab syringe with some B-Ionic Alkalinity solution.

-James (Mr. Passantino to any of my students reading... you all know better than to use first name )

 

[Simon Garratt]

Hi James.

Sorry i never got a chance to speak to you and Tyler at the swap, it would have been an honor to meet somebody so dedicated, and to shake the hand of such a strong individual as Tyler, not to mention being a budding enthusiast. It realy is testament to his strength of character that he's managed to make his way through everything he has and still remain so grounded.

I'll add Tyler's tank thread to my favorites and drop in to check on its progress regularly.

In the mean time, much respect to you sir, and best wishes to Tyler.

kind regards

 

[tomtoothdoc]

Tyler has been on MR for a couple weeks now and uses any downtime in his day to surf MR with some of his classmates who have also taken interest to the reef-tank he is keeping in our classroom. So far he hasn't updated the thread (http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/78280-tylers-tank-thread.html)but we have added a bi-color psuedochromis and are hoping to add a little more LR and some LS as well as a cleaner shrimp. Two days ago Tyler, another student Kyrie (Hello Kyrie, I know you will read this) and I had to eliminate some aiptasia. Tyler schooled Kyrie as to why this particular anemone was not a good thing to have in our tank and we dispatched of it quickly. It was fun, we used a plastic science lab syringe with some B-Ionic Alkalinity solution.

-James (Mr. Passantino to any of my students reading... you all know better than to use first name )

hey james,
you should have taken pictures and tyler could have given us some demo on aiptasia ....ummm... elimination....lol.
i posted in tyler's tank thread. i want to trade a cleaner shrimp, a blood shrimp and some live rock for a frag of that kenya tree. lmk if he's interested and how we can do this. i can bring them on my day off....tues. or fri.
thanks, tom