awesome bro. I watched a documentry on her not too long ago. Amazing life she had.
I wish I lived around someone like that. I mean it seriously it would be nice.
Your heart would become totally soft. I once saw a blind man at the university I attend
and I was dying to say hey do you want to have lunch together? He was all alone
but then I thought he will probably become scared or find it weird.
You would be surprised Mathguy. Nothing wrong with asking someone to lunch. Go for it. I can probably guess there are more people out there that are lonely just because of a handicap. There is a guy who walks by here every morning who is blind. I always walk out to greet him. This man will walk in rain or snow. What is funny about it is, he always ask me what time it is. I assure him that he is like clock work. It is always between 9:30 and 9:40 when he walks by. He always just smiles and says well I dont want to be late. lol
An inspiring girl... no doubt.
If you ever want to feel real joy in your heart, work with mentally handicapped kids, people with Downs Syndrome, or physically handicapped kids.
What they give to you will be far greater than what you give to them. If you don't know what it is that youw ill get from them, there is no way for me to explain it..... other than to say an unbridled joy for life.
One thing to remember........ most people feel a little uncomfortable around the handicapped. Please do not feel this way. Approach these folks pretty much as you would anyone else.
I have a friend named Sammy. Sammy is 27 years old and has Downs Syndrome. He's a great guy and in any conversation we have I never understand more than one or two words that he says...... but i understand everything he is trying to tell me. He's a great guy with a simple zest for life that I've seen in so few people during my life.
A couple of years ago i was at a birthday party for Sammy's 7 year old niece. It was a roller skating party. Even at my ripe old age I can still roller skate pretty damn good.
Well when Sammy saw me skating he wanted to try it out. He had never skated in his life and his Mom said no since she was afraid he would get hurt.
So i grabbed one of Sammy's shoes and went off to get him a pair of skates. I sat him down next to his Mom and had him take off his shoes. As i was strapping on his skates I told his Mom i would never let go of him. I asked her to think of how great he would feel doing this.
She softly said "OK" and we helped Sammy to the edge of the rink.
Sammy is about 5 foot 6 and built like a fire plug...... probably about 250 pounds. He's as strong as any man Ive ever met in my life.
We edged out on to the floor and Sammy was holding tight to me and me to him. We stayed along the wall and he gripped the beginners board that was on the wall with one hand, and my arm with his other hand. His sister followed closely behind us... with no skates.
Kids and adults alike were whizzing by...... and we just kept inching along. It probably took us ten minutes to make a single lap. As we approached his Mom at the end of that lap she had a huge smile on her face.
But Sammy wasn't ready to stop. He looked at me and yelled "GO!"..... so we went again. But this time as we went kids started slowing down and yelling "Go Sammy!"......... and we laughed and laughed.
The second lap ended and we were both exhusted but he looked at me and said "GO!".... so we went again.... and this time we didn't hold onto each other quite so tightly. Everybody was cheering Sammy on!
Finally at the end of that third lap we limped off the floor exhausted and sat on a little bench. We were gasping for air and just looked at each other and laughed..... and laughed..... and gave each other "high five" after "high five".
Eventually Sammy got up to go with his Mom to get a drink and i just sat there worn out from toting this huge man around that rink.
I guy I didn't know, about 30 years old, sat down next to me and said, "You know, i couldn't take my eyes off of you and your brother out there. It reminded me of a when I was a boy. I had an Uncle with Downs and he was the coolest guy. I loved him because he always did everything with me. He died a few years back. Seeing you with your brother reminded me of that. Thank you."
Then he stood, patted me on the back and walked off.
I never told him that i wasn't Sammy's brother.... that would have been way too disappointing for me.......
Great story TimmJ. Ok next time I will go for it when an opportunity comes.
I have found that it is people with handicap that are the ones who appreciate what they have.
So when you are around them they wil also make you appreciate what you have because
you will start thinking if he is happy without vision for example, how can I not be happy with
hairloss or a shadow?
You would be surprised Mathguy. Nothing wrong with asking someone to lunch. Go for it. I can probably guess there are more people out there that are lonely just because of a handicap. There is a guy who walks by here every morning who is blind. I always walk out to greet him. This man will walk in rain or snow. What is funny about it is, he always ask me what time it is. I assure him that he is like clock work. It is always between 9:30 and 9:40 when he walks by. He always just smiles and says well I dont want to be late. lol
And to think, guys are worried about losing their hair.
OK lets make this a mission amongst all of us SBG's. Why not go out and do something nice for a handicapped individual. Doesnt have to be a big thing, just something small like helping them carry their grocery bag or like the guy who walks past my store on main street each morning. Tomorrow when he walks by, I am going to walk with him for a few blocks. So lets do it and post up what we have done for such a person. Are you all in?