Exploration 3 from Mandy Lilly

                     The reading for Holding On is honestly a lot more interesting than I had thought it would be. The stories of the people that are in the book are all so different and interesting. I think that’s one of the biggest strengths of the book. The stories of these people are all so different and it gives you some insight of how different people live/lived their lives compared to your own. I think one of the weaknesses is the way it jumps around with all the different stories. I believe that at the end of each story it should maybe explain what happened to that person and where they are at now, as a closure. When I am reading Holding On I like to write down a few points about each story. Things like where it was, who it was, and what their significance is in being in the book. This helps me so that I don’t forget who is who and what their story is about when I come back and look at it later. If I don't use this technique when I am reading it makes it more difficult for me to remember what happened in that story. Which would result in me reading it over again.

            The theme that I believe most pertains to my life is obsessive behavior and its results. This theme pertains to the story of Father Louis H. Greving. The way that Greving goes about building the grotto and portraying the life of Christ in stone for Father Doberstein, after he had passed, comes about like an obsession. He works day in and day out on the grotto and his results have been quite incredible. He explained in the story that when he started, the Grotto of Bethlehem and the Grotto of Nazareth were not built. But now he has eight grottos today. This story shows the obsessive behavior that Greving had in working as hard as he could in order to get the best results. It shows how passionate he was about the grottos and mostly his dedication to them. This reminds me of myself in terms of my high school years. My sophomore year, our basketball team was probably the best it has been since the year the girls went to state in 2004.  The summer before my sophomore year, I was honored to be the 7th player to come off the bench. I worked very hard in our scrimmages and our tournaments in the summer to earn a spot on varsity and even harder to get my roll and be able to play with the team as a sophomore. About two weeks into my volleyball season, everything changed when I was in an accident that caused me to break my neck. I had missed the rest of my volleyball season and about a month and a half of my basketball season, which devastated me. I had lost my spot on varsity and even when I came back mid-season, I still wasn’t the same player I was before the accident. The summer going into my junior year is when I decided to devote as much time as I could into becoming a better player then I was even before the accident. I spent everyday in the gym shooting and working out in the weight room to get my strength back. My junior year I got my first starting position on varsity and we were able to make it to regionals. The dedication and obsession that I had going into my junior year to get a starting spot and to get my strength and skills back is what reminds me of the dedication Father Greving had when it came to building the grottos. The results that Greving had with the grottos were incredible and I’m sure Father Dobberstein would be very happy with the dedication and obsession that Greving had with building them. I know that after my season was over and the trophies came out in the end, I was very happy with the results and that I had dedicated myself in something that really meant a lot to me.