Monday – 6/24/2013

“Summer afternoon – Summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James

The warmer weather has finally arrived and it actually feels like summer these days. Unfortunately, just because it took its sweet time to get here doesn’t mean we earn some extra sunny days on the backend. Thus, I always make it a point to enjoy every day as much as I can. The dry, warmer weather was especially appreciated last week as I was out and about every day, taking advantage of some opportunities to spend some time with a variety of great people.

I was asked at the last minute to speak at The Northeast Ohio Spinal Cord Injury Association’s meeting last Monday. I didn’t talk so much about my story, as I did about how I got started talking about my story (I’ll give you a second, so you can make sense of that last sentence). It also afforded me the chance to speak about the mission of Getting Back Up and its initiatives.

Wednesday I was at, Boys Hope Girls Hope, the organization honoring me this October with the Rising Pillar of Hope Award. I wanted to get out there and meet with some of the scholars the organization helps. I was able to spend some time with five amazing teenagers who all shared their remarkable stories with me and how the organization is enriching their lives. I was blown away with the maturity of these kids, all of whose beginnings started out in pretty dire fashion. Several of the administrative staff joined us for lunch and a tour of the grounds. The campus was beautiful. It consisted of several old, brick houses that were adjacent to one another and all sharing a large, open green space, complete with a basketball court, vegetable garden and pergola/patio reserved for quiet times of reflection. It actually would be perfect for “The Quad” that Getting Back Up hopes to bring to fruition one day.

I wrapped up the week Friday evening at a friend’s house who had some people over for a bonfire party. He is also a wheelchair-bound quad, so his house was something that would be perfect for me one day. In fact, I was so inspired I spent the weekend out looking at different properties. Although, I will confess most of the time was spent cruising along the Lake Erie shoreline admiring the million-dollar homes I don’t live in yet. My strategic plan to acquire lakefront property was foiled by the Powerball drawing. However, lucky for me they have several drawings a week, so my dreams are still alive.

I did manage to set up an appointment to see a home that looks promising. Heading over to check it out after my workout on Tuesday, so hopefully the forecasted rain will hold off. Speaking of workouts, my foot is still slowly healing, but I was able to get a full week of workouts in last week. Physically, my body has been feeling really great these days. I think a lot of it has to do with the warm weather, but the workouts are crucial in going a long way to keep me active and sane.

This Wednesday I’ll be in Youngstown to speak to employees at Delphi Packard Electric Systems. My first job out of college was with Delphi, however, I’m not sure how many of my former coworkers are still working there. I was also recently contacted by NASA to speak at one of their events this fall. As some of my friends might say, I do take up space, so I should have something to talk about.

Looking forward to catching up with my buddy, Alex, later in the week. Although fully paralyzed, he just completed his first year of high school and was recently one of only 16 students in the entire state honored with an award that recognizes exemplary performance… Way to go, Alex!

Unfortunately, spinal cord injuries are so devastating and affect everyone in such a different way. That is why I’m asking you to keep a special prayer intention in your heart for a young man who is hoping to receive a surgery to repair his phrenic nerve, which might allow him to one day breathe without a ventilator. I think about how improved my life is because I am able to breathe on my own. Something I never took for granted, but never really thought about. Immediately after my injury, I quickly realized just how much breathing on my own affected my life, my health and my outlook on things. I hope to one day find myself “whole” again, but at the same time often think how lucky I am and what I would give to help others instead who are in a far worse position than I am.

I recently received an e-mail that told of a woman who was always telling her husband, what he could not do because of his bad knee, even though as he pointed out, he still had one good knee. The e-mail went on to remind us that… “You are not your knees, your nose, your knuckles, or your nervous habits. You are a spirit, and you are more that you believe yourself to be!”

Those of us who are paralyzed are not our central nervous systems, although it is very easy to define ourselves as such. This is a very difficult contradiction to come to grips with, but doing so can truly free your mind and outlook more than using your legs to run a marathon could ever do. Regardless of the above young man’s prognosis, I hope he can one day accept this rationale.

I hope we all can.

My continued thanks and appreciation for all the support I receive from everyone!

Stand Strong!

Scott