A Powerchair Party - Week of Dec. 16th

"My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn't prevent you from doing well, and don't regret the things it interferes with.  Don't be disabled in spirit as well as physically." ~Stephen Hawking

To some degree, we all yearn for similarities in others.  We find commonalities, familiarity and comradery. For Cameron, this isn't an easy task.  There are very few people in his high school in power wheelchairs.  In the community, he rarely sees anyone else with mobility devices.  Perhaps that is why Friday evening was so special.  

Jane has been on the board of directors for Renew Mobility for more than five years.  During that time, she has gotten to know Matt and Jill who are also board members.  We had chatted on numerous occasions about the two of them coming to our home for dinner.  We finally made it happen.  

Our gathering began at 5p with a surf and turf grilled meal.  Jill made a peppermint chocolate cake with homemade frosting for our dessert.  It was Cam's first official start of winter break after surviving his last half day of school.  His early morning got the best of him and he said goodnight close to 9p.  Our friends remained until after 10 and Cameron told us the next morning that he would definitely stay up later next time.  We all determined that a next time had to happen.  It was the very first time in Cam's life that the powerchair users outnumbered the non-powerchair people in his house!

Saturday afternoon, Jane and her son made their way to Oma's home.  Steff and her son, James were scheduled to meet us there for a Christmas exchange.  It was so good to see them and catch up on things.  Cam received a very cool stress ball with a stand in the shape of a baseball.   After opening presents, we taste-tested Oma's homemade holiday cookies and they were just as delicious as always.  Cameron's grandma had made five dozen cutouts for a cookie decorating event with the grade-school children who were there on Friday.

Our fun-filled weekend ended with a beautiful performance of The Nutcracker.  Ms. Ann's granddaughter, Sophia, played two parts in the production and her mom, Katherine, worked on the crew behind the scenes.  Sophia's cousin, Ella, was also in attendance and helped Ms. Ann sell items from the special Nutcracker boutique.  

The auditorium was filled for the final performance.  Much to everyone's delight, the next day was the first official weekday for school winter break which equated to a bit of sleep-in time for us all!

Camology Quotes:

Cam kept thinking of questions to ask Matt and Jill.  It was easy to see he wouldn't run out of inquiries any time soon.  Here were just a few examples:

"What is the most accessible restaurant in Grand Rapids?"  "What do you do if you can't get in somewhere?"  "Does your service dog know how to help you do everything?"