Pham & Leo

Activity 1: For a long time, my stepson, Jonathan, has been unhappy to have me as part of his family, for he resented that he didn’t have both biological parents at home. I tried to get to know him better, but he would complain that I invaded his privacy. As a newcomer, I understood that our relationship would require effort from both of us. It is not enough that I was friendly. Jonathan also had to want us to be friends, and I was not happy with the two of us being strangers, but I could wait for him to feel more comfortable around me.

Activity 2: Anne Marie collects antique bottles and loves to turn them into works of art. She will buy bottles if she likes them, but she prefers to find them in the ground. She will find bottles everywhere, but she picks them selectively. However, she has the best luck at construction sites on old farmland, where she spends most of her time. Often, bottles appear on the surface after a good rain, but they disappear very soon. She will use special tools for excavating bottles, including a set of brushes. She doesn’t want to break the bottles as she removes them from the ground. After finding a new bottle, Anne Marie will add it to her display case and hang on the wall as an artistic piece (Mangelsdorf, 2013, p. 411).