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Cindy Hval

Cindy Hval

Current Position: freelancer

Cindy Hval is a freelance columnist and correspondent. Her "Front Porch" column appears on alternate Thursdays in the Voices section. Her articles appear in the Features section and throughout the newspaper. Visit her at www.cindyhval.com

Email
dchval@juno.com

All Stories

Cindy Hval
Opinion >  Column

Front porch: Someday, I will shower alone

It's disconcerting to shower under armed guard. I reached for the shampoo and found myself staring down the barrel of an assault rifle. I tried to ignore the row of uniformed soldiers who silently watched my morning ablutions, but I couldn't. Their eyes stared stoically off into the distance, but I thought I caught an amused grin on one fellow's face when I reached for my cranberry-apricot body scrub.
News >  Voices

Surprising a deserving friend

Thirty-three-year-old K.C. Chapman has found a place where everybody knows his name. Most days he zips down the street in his battery-powered wheelchair to hang out with the regulars at the Illinois Avenue Bar and Grill in north Spokane. "He's the unofficial greeter at the Illinois," said Chapman's sister, Kelley Opperud. Chapman has cerebral palsy and cannot walk or speak, but his physical limitations haven't diminished his outgoing personality or his knack for making friends.
News >  Voices

Following bridal traditions

She sewed by lamplight. The delicate lawn material felt weightless in her hands. It was 1910, and Martha Jurgensen had paid the extravagant sum of $1 per yard for fabric to make her wedding gown. She must have dreamed as she sewed – imagined her life with Otto Schranck, thought of the family they would raise. And after the wedding, when she lovingly packed the gown away, she must have hoped for a daughter to wear the dress someday.
Cindy Hval
Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Letting go of children necessary, but painful

He didn't have much hair, but what he had glinted golden in the stark winter sunlight that streamed into the hospital room on the day he was born. When they placed him on my chest still wet and goopy I said, "There you are." And he picked up his head and stared straight into my eyes. It seemed like we'd always known each other, my firstborn son and I. As Ethan grew, thankfully his hair grew, too. His temperament was as golden as his flaxen locks. He was a compliant child – eager to please, basking in the adoration of two sets of doting grandparents.
News >  Voices

In Memory of Justin Haeger

The first thing that comes to Karen Haeger's mind when she thinks about her son Justin is his capacity for friendship. Her husband, Ron, nodded and said, "Justin was everybody's best friend." Two years ago, Justin died from a methadone overdose. Last year, on what would have been his 22nd birthday, his parents launched the first Justin C. Haeger 10-mile run. The run raised almost $5,000 for Daybreak, a local facility that offers inpatient and outpatient treatment for teens struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.
News >  Voices

Baby brother motivates star athlete

Siblings can be the bread crumbs in the bed of any kid's life. They alternately love 'em, or hate 'em, and often beg to live without them. But for Ryan Selland, the birth of his brother, Luke, a little over a year ago changed his life completely. He can't imagine what life would be like without Luke – but he came close to finding out. Selland describes his baby brother as a "surprise" for his family. That surprise turned to dismay when the family discovered the baby had been born with an extremely rare tumor on his neck.
News >  Voices

Chef emerges from mental illness

In a story Shane Stevenson wrote about his life, he relates one of his earliest memories – the sound of a shrieking smoke detector triggered by an old toaster. He wrote, "I scream, only to realize that I hate that sound, too. I continue to scream uncontrollably. Then the sound stops. Then blackness again." His articulate, well-written memoir demonstrates just how far this amazing young man has come.
News >  Voices

G-Prep education worth the miles for Idaho teen

Just how far would you go to get a good education? For Tiffany Wadel the answer is approximately 150 miles. The Bonners Ferry teen didn't even know Gonzaga Prep existed until she heard an ad for the school on the car radio. "I told my Mom I wanted to go," she said.
News >  Voices

Kyle Lee adjusts from Korea to St. George’s

Imagine walking into a new school and taking your seat at a desk. Kids are chatting and laughing, but you sit in silence. The teacher walks to the front of the class and begins to speak. All around you teens scribble notes. But you can't. You don't understand most of what is being said. That was Kyle (Neung Kyu) Lee's experience when he first came to St. George's school four years ago. Far from his home and family in Korea he said, "I just wanted to go back to Korea."
News >  Voices

Lakeside grad a natural leader

Some may think natural leaders are those with the most domineering personalities or those with the loudest voices but Lakeside senior class president Jamie Wachter is neither. Teacher Matt Sullivan said, "She (Jamie) is among the most humble, soft-spoken and self-effacing young people with whom I have had contact."
News >  Voices

M.E.A.D. support exactly what she needs

Angel Wills would be the first to admit that her behavior hasn't always been as heavenly as her name implies. By her freshman year she'd failed so many classes that she wasn't on track to graduate. But now, four years later, not only will she get her diploma on time, but this spirited teen is the M.E.A.D. (Mead Education Alternative Division) Quantum Leap winner. The award is given to a student who has undergone a "quantum leap or change." To understand Wills' transformation it helps to discover its genesis. She moved from Newport to Spokane her freshman year and was overwhelmed by the change from her small to school to one of Spokane's larger high schools.
News >  Voices

Pain doesn’t hold her back

Kylea Carter got off to a rough start in life. She was born with VATER syndrome and wasn't expected to live. The initials refer to five bodily areas in which a child may have abnormalities. Babies who have been diagnosed with it usually have at least three or more of these individual anomalies. Even with these challenges, Carter said her mother considers her birth a miracle. "My mom was told she couldn't have children," she said. "But she had me and my two younger brothers."
News >  Voices

Student offers comfort despite deep loss

When Anna Nelson talks about her brother, Carl, there's laughter in her voice. "We used to drive around the roundabout by Mt. Spokane, like, six times in row," she said with a giggle. "We'd dress up in crazy costumes and go to the grocery store to get ice cream."
News >  Voices

Thanks to football coach, Shadle grad finds new life

Everyone has a defining moment – a point in time when life as they know it changes and will never be the same. For Travis Putnam that moment came when he was 14. "I was at Boy Scout camp," he recalled. "Part way through the week I noticed people were treating me differently." When camp was over, instead of taking him home, his Scoutmaster took him to his grandparents' house. Putnam didn't understand why, but he soon found out. "My grandparents told me my dad had died," he said. His father had fallen asleep at the wheel and been killed in a car accident. In that moment Putnam lost everything most dear and familiar to him and embarked on a frightening journey into the unknown.
News >  Voices

Triplet accomplishments

The halls of Riverside High School will be a bit dimmer next fall, as three of the school's brightest lights graduate this month. Triplets Michael, David and Jennifer Watts have been a source of inspiration to students and faculty, alike. And despite being triplets, track coach Bill Kemp said, "If you didn't know their last name, you wouldn't know they're related."
News >  Voices

Working hard for everything

Last summer, Anne VanAbbema had a disturbing experience while visiting her mother in Germany. "I had this weird déjÀ vu," she said. "I felt disconnected from my body." When she returned home she had several additional episodes. She shrugged it off and didn't tell anyone, but she was worried. "I was laying in bed one day, praying about it," she said. VanAbbema felt like God spoke to her. "He told me I had a brain tumor." The enormity of her situation overwhelmed her. An unhappy family circumstance resulted in VanAbbema living on her own at age 17. Her mother lived in Germany, her father in Missouri. "I felt like I'd already gone through so much," she said.
News >  Voices

Couples share wisdom of 188 combined years

When you need medical advice you don't turn to a pre-med student. When you need legal expertise you don't watch "Judge Judy." And if you want to know what it takes to have a lasting marriage, you shouldn't ask newlyweds. A better idea is to talk to folks with a bit more experience. For instance, couples with a combined total of 188 years of connubial bliss. Sandy Johnson and his first wife, Betty, were married for 54 years before she died. He's been with his current wife, Jeanette, for 10. Charlie and Irene Boyer have been married for 62 years, as have Sid and Dorothea Kennedy. It all adds up to over a century of love and commitment.
News >  Voices

Jugglers come out to play

A surprising new group made its debut in the Junior Lilac Parade this year: jugglers. Nineteen of them tossed rings, clubs and beanbags as they marched. The Lincoln Heights Juggling Jags and the Chase Juggling Chargers combined forces for the event, securing first place in the individual/group category. The clubs are the creation of local teachers and juggling enthusiasts Daniel and Patty Sparks.
News >  Voices

Bishop’s wife raises green profits

In the 1947 movie classic, "The Bishop's Wife," an angel comes to the aid of a clergyman who longs to build a cathedral. Here in Spokane, the bishop's wife has become an answer to prayer, in her quest to preserve an aging South Hill mansion. When Gloria Waggoner moved to the city eight years ago with her husband, the Rev. Jim Waggoner, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, she fell in love with their new home in the historic Paulsen House. "What struck me about the house is it's so perfect for hospitality," she said.
Cindy Hval
Opinion >  Column

Front porch: Visit to Skills Center is like memory lane

In my former life I was a radio personality. Way back in 1983 I had a weekly hour-long program. I spun Top-40 favorites such as "Eye of the Tiger" and "Centerfold" and did my best to emulate a breathy, sultry radio diva. Unfortunately, I ended up sounding like an asthmatic Madonna, or Cyndi Lauper with a really bad cold. What? You never heard my show? Well, I guess I'm not surprised, since you would have had to be in a one-mile radius of the Spokane Skills Center in north Spokane, to pick up station KSVC.
News >  Voices

In Challenger Little League, everybody can play baseball

The crack of the bat. The smell of a new leather mitt. Fields dotted with tykes in colorful uniforms. For many residents the advent of spring means the start of another Little League season. Is there anything more American than kids playing baseball? Yet, until last year, dozens of area children were left out of America's favorite pastime. There was no avenue for kids with special needs to play Little League.
News >  Voices

New Hope for community

COLBERT – The beautiful high-end housing developments that dot north Spokane County belie the fact that not all county residents are prospering. According to data from Spokane County's 2005-09 Consolidated Plan, some areas of unincorporated north Spokane County have between approximately 43 percent and 49 percent of residents considered low-income. In addition, Riverside school district has approximately 44 percent of students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch and Deer Park Middle School has 49 percent who qualify. Sarah Gamber knows what it's like to be one of those statistics. "When we moved here my husband had just gotten out of the Navy," the Elk resident said. "We moved here, without much. We really kind of struggled."
News >  Voices

Seminars for hope, healing, wholeness

Lance Yarwood's anger was killing him. A rancorous divorce had left him with feelings of rage and bitterness. His blood pressure was skyrocketing. The 45-year-old truck driver from Post Falls said, "I was getting ready to end my pain." He found help in an unexpected place. Yarwood said his father told him about the Newman Conference Center in Newman Lake.
News >  Voices

Stamp Out Hunger food drive Saturday

This week in addition to bills, circulars and maybe a tax-rebate check, postal customers will get a little something extra with their mail – blue plastic bags. Saturday marks the 16th annual National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive. Stamp Out Hunger has become known as the nation's largest one-day effort to collect food.
Cindy Hval
Opinion >  Column

The Front Porch: Mother’s Day gift gives back

It seems unthinkable that as a lifelong Spokane resident I'd never set foot inside one of our most-photographed buildings until recently. Especially because without it, I probably wouldn't be here. The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist has been an elegant addition to the Spokane skyline since the 1920s. Its classic Gothic architecture makes it a popular destination for school field trips and sightseeing tours.