A friend of mine the other day said, "You are amazing. To come back from another knee surgery, and run again is just inspiring." No its not. Yes, it feels good, and today it was a pleasure to bike around the area in which I reside. I don't deny the joy of that, because the past ninety days have been frustrating. Like most folks, I don't like to "rest on my laurels." A day without some sort of physical fitness is a wasted one. Yet what about kids and adults with special needs? They are my heroes, and they are the ones who are inspiring.
I was thinking about this today during my bike ride. There were a lot of reflections, including thinking about how children with cognitive disabilities, are true champions. So many of them have low muscle tone, and when they have seizures, they lose all of the abilities they had mentally and physically. Yet they don't give up. The past Christmas season has been a bit painful, as every one is without Tommy. I usually mourn in private, but it does hurt, not to have him playing with the wrapping paper on gifts. Even with some tears today, I smiled though in one regard. That was his ability of resilience, that so many other kids with Angelman Syndrome, and other special needs have. I didn't realize this at the time, but it has become very much in my thinking.
Did I lose some muscle strength in ninety days? Yes. No doubt about it,there was a slight bit of atrophy. Yet that is nothing, its minuscule, compared to what a boy or girl with special needs has to deal with. After they have multiple seizures, they often lose their ability to walk, or participate in other tasks. Yet watching other children with Angelman Syndrome, along with other intellectual disabilities, has made me keenly thankful for what they accomplish. Often they can go ninety days or more of not walking, after having loads of seizures, or medical issues at hospitals. They still keep going, and along with the love of their parents, grandparents, and angelic friends step up to do it all over again.
These are our heroes. They are the ones who are inspiring, and who don't give up, even when the odds are stacked against them in almost every aspect. If you get a chance, to spend time with a child who has special needs, by all means do it. You will learn more from them, than from anyone else. There is a young lady, and due to privacy and other concerns, I cannot say much other than I'm proud of her. She has a severe disability, seizures, and she was walking the other day after a couple of weeks of seizures. I'm smiling now thinking about her, as she went down the hallway. Yes, her walking gait wouldn't win any awards for its beauty, but it was the courage in her eyes, and the strength of her heart that certainly was.
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