#in elementary school we would take field trips to the local planetarium

[princessdevy03]

Tumblr Drabble!!!!

Author’s Note: It’s been TWO YEARS this month that I started writing for the KevEdd fandom, and that means we gotta visit my first BIG story that kickstarted my madness that you all love and enjoy apparently.

So here’s something NEW just for Tumblr that I got from a story on Twitter about a senior citizen who’s the Grandpa of his local hospital’s NICU.

We all need to be loved and touched. I hope you find yours.

Love ya!

Here’s a bit more show…

Promises To Keep, Promises Kept: Healing Hands

Edd looked up at the man standing in the doorway to his kitchen and flashed him a smile.

“How was work?”

Kevin shrugged as Edd slid a coffee cup in his direction and said, “They’re all still here, so there’s that.”

“Dinner won’t be done for another twenty minutes,” Edd said with a nod as he turned the temperature on his slow cooker from High to Low, knowing that Kevin would talk about it when he was ready.

“What is it?” Kevin asked as he stood over his husband’s shoulder and peered at the fogged up lid hiding what was inside the pot.

“Chicken chili and I need to get started on the cornbread so move,” Edd grinned as he shoved a whining Kevin out of the kitchen.

Monday nights were still date nights in as they had been for the past forty years, but over the years since they got married and had kids, they would have to get creative.

When Brighton and Antonia were younger, they’d have dinner together after the kids went to bed. When the kids got older, they’d do a family night and watch the Monday Night Football game or whatever kid’s movie or TV show was trendy at the time.

But the kids were long gone and they had grandkids now.

Kevin retired five years ago and Edd’s work duties over the last ten years had moved him into an advisory role which allowed him to direct field trips at the planetarium, give talks at the local elementary schools, guest lecture at the junior college and occasionally Peach State, and spend as much free time in the lab as his lecture series and field trip duties would allow.

So while Edd was out at work, Kevin was home and bored.

Day trips on the Harley could only be taken during the warmer days, and while their home on the coast provided plenty of that, there were days where the weather would cooperate on the way out, but not back. This led to Edd picking him up in the truck and that lead to so much teasing that he became just as good as their favorite weatherman on predicting good weather days over bad. Or he would find something he knew Edd would want to come see, too, but couldn’t because of work or sometimes their friends and family. So the ride wouldn’t be as nice as he had wanted it to be. Which just wasn’t cool for the coolest guy he knew next to Edd.

Friends and family would visit often and Antonia and her family stayed in town, so they got to see her kids a lot, but he wasn’t feeling as fulfilled as he used to when he had a job.

Work wasn’t work, it was a purpose.

Helping young men stay healthy and teaching them the games he loved was something he didn’t take lightly, no matter how easy so many said he had it.

Wrangling teenage boys was not an easy task to begin with. The general horseplay, bonding with friends, and heaps of testosterone in one spot was a doozy to handle. Edd often likened it to herding cats and Kevin had to agree. Then there was the added pressure of keeping them focused when their hormones, family and societal pressures, and own insecurities had them all over the place.

But after thirty plus years, his body just couldn’t handle the cold on the football field, the heat of the ball diamond, or just trying to keep up with nearly 150 boys for a good 5 hours a day.

So he took his balls and went home.

At first he would keep up on all of their chores, but that soon became such a quick and easy task that he would damn near beg Edd to leave the house be for a couple of days to give himself something to do later. But his mysophobic husband could only barely comply with the request.

Volunteer opportunities with the graduate chapters of their college honor societies would usually happen on the weekends, still leaving him with nothing to do during the week.

And it was more of the same at the YMCA.

But then the opportunity of a second lifetime came.

He had taken their youngest granddaughter, Monica, to a regular doctor’s appointment at the hospital and overheard one of the nurses talking about how their summer volunteer group was going to all but disappear since nearly all the volunteers were students who had to go back to school in the fall, leaving them strapped during the week.

On the one hand, hospitals meant needles and the idea of seeing so many little bodies getting poked and prodded in an effort to save their young lives still terrified him.

But then he remembered all they went through to keep Brighton alive and how many volunteers stepped in to help them do it.

He felt a bit like an idiot for not thinking of this before, especially because they were always at the hospital for different charity events to help thank the people who worked so hard to keep their son alive during those first few crucial months after he was born.

But better late than never.

So he called the hospital’s charity liaison and he directed him to the couple that was in charge of the volunteers.

For the first few weeks, he was all over the place.

A few hours in the social worker’s office to try and keep children calm and distracted following an incident at home, a couple of days in the ICU bringing the hurried doctors and nurses breakfast and lunch.

But it was the week in the maternity ward that brought him to where he truly needed to be.

Delivering flowers to new moms, lunch to frantic fathers, cookies to the rushed medical staff reminded him of his own days on the floor.

So he put in a request for the NICU.

Permanently.

The high turnover on the floor could be nerve wracking because so many people come in with high hopes of sending happy, healthy children home, only for them to be dashed in hours, mere minutes because of the fragility of life.

But he knew that holding on to hope is what kept humanity going no matter how many times we lost.

Edd would make him coffee when he came home and listen to his stories of tiny babies fighting and winning and fighting but losing.

The stories would change from day to day, but the overall theme was still the same; he was on a team that played to win.

On days like today where things ended in a draw of sorts with all the patients still there, they would take a deep breath and rest and Kevin would go back the next day to fight again.

Over chicken chili and corn bread he told him about the advancements medicine had made since Brighton made his early entrance into the world.

How a tiny little intersex baby named Mel, smiled today.

How precious Renee actually got to nurse for a few minutes before just tiring out and going back to sleep.

How Taylor made it through his second heart surgery in a month.

And how twins Lynette and Lionel just might, maybe go home next week.

It reminded Edd of when Brighton was in the hospital and Kevin would spend hours in the nursery with him, meeting families like their own, holding their son and a couple of other babies for frazzled parents who just didn’t have enough arms and hands to help.

He had always told him that he would make a great father and having a kid of his own was all he ever wanted for them.

They got their wish with Antonia and raising their family together was all he could ever had hoped, wished for, or imagined.

But in giving him Brighton, Edd felt like he got to give their little part of the world the love of a McCallister lass and the hands of a Barr man it so desperately needed.

And when Kevin found it in himself to give it as well, so many were better for it.

*Ping*

Kevin looked over at his phone which was charging on their charging pad in the kitchen as Edd did the dishes and opened the new Facebook alert from Brighton.

Brighton “ Big B Man” Vincent-Barr: Papa’s back at it again! We’ll be home soon! Tristan said to save some tickles for the rest of us!

Attached to the post was another post from the hospital highlighting their various volunteers. And the one they chose for the NICU was of Kevin giving some touch therapy through an incubator to a baby that would was no bigger than his fist.

He groaned as he sat the phone face down on the counter, but no sooner had he done so, Edd snatched it up and squealed at what he saw.

“Edd.”

“Oh my God, this is soooooo cute!” He giggled. “Why didn’t he tag me?! He’s grounded,” he said as he put Kevin’s phone down, grabbed his own and shared the hospital’s post to his own page.

“Edd.”

*Ping*

Another tagged post from the hospital looked back at him and he blushed as he read the caption.

Eddward “Double Dee” Vincent-Barr: A Father’s healing touch.

“Oh, c’mon, Dee!”

“But that’s what it is!” Edd giggled as he put both of their phones down and took Kevin’s face into his hands. “We all need to be touched and touch can heal, you know that, Kev.”

Frustrated green eyes looked into his smiling own and Edd snorted.

“But why they gotta use me?” The redhead whined and Edd outright laughed.

“Because you’re cute. Duh.”

Cool hands started to warm because of the red cheeks they were caressing and Edd gave him Eskimo kisses as he said, “It’s a good thing, Kev.”

“I know,” Kevin whispered.

“You’re a great father, you’re an awesome grandfather, and an even better husband.”

Despite what he considered some poor decisions on his part his freshman year of high school, asking for Edd’s help with his studies when he did, despite Edd being a grade behind him and really not all that prepared to help, he knew he was tremendously blessed to have the man in his life.

But to hear him say that he was all those things he tried his damnedest to be in a world that sometimes would say he shouldn’t, was always an endearing compliment he couldn’t ever believe.

“Yeah?”

Edd looked into shy, disbelieving green eyes and shook his head as he gave him real smile.

“Yeah.”

Big blue eyes that never lied and a smile that was just for him.

And it was Monday.

“Wanna watch the game and makeout?”

Edd, as always, beat him to the couch.

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders 24-7. 

[wellesleyunderground]

Wellesley in STEM: Finding and Enjoying your Local Science Center by Talia Sepersky ’08 (@TaliaSepersky)

Wellesley Underground recently caught up with Talia Sepersky (2008). Since majoring in Astrophysics at Wellesley, Talia has shared her love of science in many arenas, from her work at the Alliance for Climate Education to her current job at the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science in Boston. When she can be convinced to stop running around with a lightsaber or pretending to fly the Starship Enterprise, her enthusiasm for science is absolutely infectious, and WU asked Talia to share her tips for finding and getting the most of your local science center.

Take it away, Talia!

Welcome to summer, the season of trying to find things to do that involve spending time in air-conditioning. One activity that is often available, no matter where you may be, is visiting a science education center! Whether it’s a science museum, an aquarium, a planetarium, or some combination thereof, science centers can be a great way to spend a day. Here’s a little advice to help you get the most science out of your visits with the least stress for you and your fellow visitors.

“TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE.” (AKA Finding Your Science Center)

In the field of informal science education, the big museums get most of the attention. The California Science Center, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Science, Boston (where I work)—they’re popular for a reason. Large science centers tend to have bigger staffs, bigger buildings, and bigger donor pools from which to pull funding. This allows the larger facilities to offer a wide variety of activities, resources, and exhibits. They’re also usually located in big cities. If you’re planning a visit to a major city, odds are that there’s an utterly fantastic science center within easy reach.

        The website for the Association of Science-Technology Centers has a searchable database to help you find a science center in your vicinity. It’s important to note that some small science centers have limited hours, so always double-check.

        Less obvious are the thousands of tiny science centers scattered throughout the country. These facilities may be smaller, but they are often cheaper to visit and an easier trip for those outside of the big cities. They will have fewer resources and smaller staffs, but those staff members will be no less excited to share a love of science with you. They are also generally less crowded, which can be a huge benefit! So if a haul into Boston is too much, check out a place like the Ecotarium in Worcester or the McCauliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, NH instead.

“IN MY EXPERIENCE, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS LUCK.” (AKA Do Your Research)

You’ll get much more out of your visit if you spend a little time researching your science center. This one might seem obvious but, as a science museum employee, I cannot tell you how many people skip this step. Looking up the basics like hours and location is a great first step, but searching out certain other information will help you maximize the science in your visit.

        First and foremost: what, exactly, does your science center have available? Most places will have some sort of main exhibit halls that will be part of the basic admission package. But what extra activities does your center offer? Some of these activities may cost extra.

        For instance, the Museum of Science in Boston has live presentations in various parts of the exhibit halls throughout the day which anyone in the halls can attend. We have engineering challenges, a lightning show, and a live animal center all available as part of the general exhibit hall ticket. When planning your visit, always check to see what, specifically, is available as part of basic admission, and at what times of day.

        That said, many science centers will offer extra science opportunities for an additional price. In Boston, there’s the Butterfly Garden, the Mugar Omni Theater, a 4-D Theater and, of course, the absolutely spectacular, world-famous, totally amazing, completely awesome, mind-blowing Charles Hayden Planetarium. Each of these theaters requires a separate ticket from the main exhibit halls.

        I also recommend researching what types of shows are offered at these extra venues. Many people buy tickets based purely on the show’s time, without bothering to see what it’s about. I’ve seen any number of adults walk out of the Planetarium in a huff because it turns out they bought tickets for a show called “Big Bird’s Adventure” and didn’t realize it was a kid’s show. A little research will allow you to avoid disappointment and ensure that the show you buy a ticket for is a show you actually want to see.

        A few other planning questions might include: is parking available? Can you borrow or rent a scooter/wheelchair/stroller? Are there storage lockers? Is food available? Is admission free, or is there a basic ticket cost? Especially if you are planning a visit with a large group or with small children, knowing this in advance will make your day go much more smoothly.

        The science center website is a great place to search for this information, but websites are often not well-designed and hunting down the required information can sometimes feel like a mining expedition. When in doubt, give the science center a call. The more you know in advance, the more you can get out of your visit!

“I BRING THE SCIENTISTS, YOU BRING THE ROCK STAR.” (AKA With Whom Are You Visiting?)

Most people think of science centers as great places for family trips. They’re not wrong. One of a museum’s primary functions is to make learning fun, and elementary- to middle-school-aged kids are a major target audience. But they’re not the only ones we’re trying to reach. Many science centers will have different offerings aimed at different ages and types of audiences.

          When visiting with wee ones, look for spaces or events designed specifically for them. Some places have both. In Boston, our Discovery Center is restricted to children under eight, some of our Planetarium shows are specifically designed for small children, and we offer pre-school live animal story hours early in the day throughout the year. Helping Big Bird count the stars or meeting a hedgehog after hearing a story about one is a great way to introduce little ones to science museums and to the study of the natural world.

          While we do love getting kids interested in science, science centers are highly aware of the fact that adults like to visit, but don’t necessarily want to have large numbers of kids underfoot. Many of them will have adult-only events, especially in the evenings. Some of these will be very basic, like 18+ access to the main exhibits. Others will be very elaborate and will involve offering food or a bar or bringing entertainment in from outside. Some of these offerings may not even be science specific, like music shows or movie nights.

          For example, the Museum of Science’s Planetarium jumped whole hog into adult evening programming for summer 2017. We have experimented with live music, sci-fi movie screenings, improv comedy, and trivia nights, sometimes paired with snacks and a bar and sometimes as a more bare-bones event. You might be surprised by the types of adult events your local science center may have to offer.

          Some science centers will also have specific offerings or events designed for visitors with special needs, or ways to make existing offerings more accommodating. This can be anything from offering braille-descriptive narratives or sound-enhancing headphones to Low Sensory Days to maximize the comfort of guests with sensory processing difficulties. Some museum events, particularly live presentations, may be altered on the fly to help accommodate audience members (though, as with all things you’re wondering about your science center visit, calling or asking ahead of time helps!).

“I’LL BE BACK.” (AKA Membership Programs)

If you have a nearby science center that you would visit a few times a year, it may be worth looking into whether or not they have a membership program, which can include any number of potential perks. For the Museum of Science, a membership provides free exhibit hall access, some free passes to the add-on venues, discounts at the Museum’s store and café, priority access to some Museum events, and exclusive access to others.

        In addition, membership at one museum can get you free or discounted access to others around the country. There is a network of over 400 science centers, zoos, museums, aquariums, etc. with reciprocity access for members from the Museum of Science. If you think you may be a science center frequent flyer, or if you would like access to multiple science centers around the country as you travel, definitely check out your local center’s membership program, if it has one.

“OH WHAT A DAY! WHAT A LOVELY DAY!” (AKA Timing Your Visit)

When it comes to visiting larger science centers, choosing your time can be critical if you don’t feel like dodging large numbers of people. There are definitely some times to avoid, if crowds aren’t your thing.

          First, as you may suspect, every school vacation week your science center is likely to be overrun. For Massachusetts, this includes December, February, and April vacation weeks. If you want to avoid crowds, find out when vacation weeks are, and stay well away. For small states you may want to check the vacation weeks of adjacent states as well. New Hampshire’s February and April vacations are usually the week after Massachusetts’ and are also busier than normal times for nearby Massachusetts museums.

That being said, even amongst the vacation weeks there’s variation. In Boston, April’s generally milder weather allows for more outdoor activities, and is usually a less busy week than February or December. In a similar vein, holidays can be very crowded days, although the winter holidays like MLK Day are usually much fuller days than, say, Labor Day.

          If you want to come during summer vacation, my recommendation is to do it earlier in the summer, rather than later. August tends to be more crowded than June or July, and in my experience people are far grumpier towards the end of summer than the beginning.

          The ideal time of day can also change between the school year and summer days. During the school year, weekday mornings are very crowded with large field trip groups. There can be several thousand schoolchildren in the Museum of Science during the morning on a given school day, all wired and excited. Generally these groups have to clear out by the early afternoon, and the Museum is very quiet after about 1:00 pm or so. If a weekday visit is possible, afternoons during the school year can be a good choice.

          During the summer months, there is something of an opposite effect. Although we do get large camp groups who can arrive early in the morning, the majority of our summer visitors tend to arrive in larger numbers starting in the late morning through the afternoon. If you plan to come during the summer, the mornings will likely be the quieter portion of the day.

          Weekends can be widely hit or miss in terms of crowds, depending heavily on weather, season, and other external circumstances like holidays and city events.

          If you are looking for a quiet time to visit your local science center, especially a larger one, aim for September. Summer vacation is over and the school field trips have not started yet. It’s the quietest time of year for a museum. That being said, the quiet times may mean some venues will take advantage of the lull to shut down for maintenance, so always check ahead!

“ENGAGE!” (AKA Ask! Pleeeeeease Ask!)

          I love space. I REALLY love talking about space. Like…REALLY. Anything about space! Everything about space! Even vaguely space-adjacent things like geology or dinosaurs (yes, dinosaurs are totally space-adjacent)! I love space like dogs love belly rubs and ear scratches. And my all-time favorite thing is answering people’s questions about space. After shows in the Planetarium, I will watch the crowds prepare to leave in eager hopes that someone will come ask me a question. I have been known to wander the Planetarium’s exhibit space in hopes that someone will see my Museum ID and pluck up the courage to say “actually, I’ve been wondering something…”

          Shockingly few people ask me questions. If you want to get the most out of your visit to a science center, ask questions. This is why I’m there. This is my raison d’être. And it’s not just me. Nobody who works as a museum educator is in it for the money. We’re there because we eat, sleep, and breathe science and all we want is to share that with our visitors. Many folks are shy about taking my time or asking what they call “a stupid question.” Look, it may sound cliché, but there are no stupid questions. No matter what your question is, I will do my best to answer it, or to explain why I don’t know the answer. In fact, your major problem might be getting me to stop.

        Keep your local museum educator happy. Feed them questions.

“HAVE FUN STORMING THE CASTLE!” (AKA Have Fun!)

          I hope this toolkit helps you fully enjoy your local science center, or the science center in whatever city or town you may be visiting. Have fun. Learn something new. And if you happen to be in Boston, stop in at the Charles Hayden Planetarium and ask me a question about space (or dinosaurs).

Space images source STScI/NASA. These images were taken by the Hubble Telescope and are from HubbleSite.org.