Good Times!

For the last several weeks, I have been mentally preparing myself for what I always thought would be a dreaded affair – the 10 year high school class reunion. In actuality, it turned out to be an unexpectedly relaxed and fun-filled weekend here in Baton Rouge.

In order to soften the shock factor of stepping back into the old crowds from high school, and to warm up our reminiscing muscles, I met two friends for dinner Friday night who I have kept in touch with over the years (Natalie and Sarah, who are in the first photo below with me). After dinner, we somewhat reluctantly headed to a local bar, The Fox and Hound, to meet up with our former classmates. We did not have the bar to ourselves, which complicated the matter a bit, because we were constantly trying to determine if any given person was with us or not with us. Lucky for us, almost everyone looked pretty much the same after ten years, so we had little trouble recognizing our old friends. Most of our conversation that first night was spent catching up on the basics of who is doing what and where they are living, meeting spouses and significant others, and basically reestablishing our bearings with one another.

Saturday morning, I had most of the girls over for brunch at my parents’ house, and we pored over hilarious high school pictures for a few hours. From freshman year parties, sleepovers, homecoming dances, proms, drama events, and various amateur athletic endeavors, we managed to relive most of the worthwhile memories. Out of the dozen or so of us at the brunch, we had five who were married, three with children already, and two who were pregnant. We agreed to attempt a girls’ beach getaway in five years so that we don’t go another ten years without seeing one another.


The main event, Saturday night, was kind of like a wedding reception but for the most part more fun and much less proper. We mostly agreed that it was a very classy evening, everyone dressed well for the cocktail party, the food was fancy, the setup elegant. There was a slide show of high school photos, a few awards for those who traveled the furthest and those who had the most interesting jobs, and a group photo. Then the DJ took over and played all of our favorite songs from high school, to which we danced our hearts out and acted a fool just like old times. A group of us continued on for a few more hours at an LSU bar up the street, and we fittingly ran into several other people who went to high school with us but were in other classes. We were all having such a good time that it was with much reluctance that we finally started heading home around 1:30 or so in the morning. I never thought I would say this, but I am definitely looking forward to the next high school class reunion…

Poor Guy

I've been doing my best to keep up with the most recent uprising in the Middle East. So far my favorite guy involved is:

Lebanon Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat

How do ya like that name? I hope he doesn't have a daughter. If so, she's probably extremely self-conscious about her weight.

Paralympics

Last weekend at about this time, I was finishing up a 2-day adventure as a volunteer/spectator/fan at the 2006 U.S. National Paralympic Track and Field Championships right here in the fine city of Atlanta. I must say, I didn’t know what to expect, but I was blown away by what I saw and more importantly who I saw. I saw an elite group of world-class athletes, all of whom carried with them onto the track (or field) a disability. The afflictions ranged from a mere amputated hand to severe paralysis and quadriplegia. These men and women (and a few boys and girls) were at their top form and certainly made me – a not-so-inactive healthy individual – feel rather lazy. I noted with wonder the reality that regardless of how many muscles remained in operable status for each of these athletes, they used each muscle fiber to its maximum potential. Most, in addition to their level of paralysis, also suffered from other effects of spinal damage, such as the inability to sweat. This of course poses a slight problem in Georgia in the middle of the summer, but it was just another day at the track for these athletes - a little wet sponge here and spray of water there, and they were able to cool down just fine. One of the amputee sprinters, a female with a left below-knee amputation, replied to my question about the degree of her disability that she just had a scratch compared to most of her peers on the track that day. The next time I actually have a bona fide scratch and am tempted to whine and seek pity, I will remember to keep this in perspective.

As for track events that I was able to witness, there were various lengths of wheelchair races, from 100m up to 5000m. I must be a slow learner, because I must have watched this for nearly 5-6 hours before finally noticing the gloved hands of each of the competitors and that many of the gloves were specially made and molded to fit their fisted hands during competition.

The wheelchairs themselves are impressively sleek and compact. I wanted badly to sit in one and get the feel of how they operate, but as a severe new-comer to the scene, I decided to wait for another event or opportunity. In addition to wheeling these chairs around the track and all over the stadium during the day of competition, the racers have to haul these things from all over the world in airports and hotels and on buses to reach their competition locations. Most could be seen at some point in their “everyday” chairs, wheeling with one hand and pushing their racing chair in front with the other hand. And I thought hauling my bike around was rather cumbersome.

My favorite events, though it was a close call, were the “ambulatory” races. This classification is for amputees with prosthetics or for athletes with other disabilities that do not confine them to a wheelchair, such as blindness. It was absolutely exhilarating to watch as some of the fastest sprinters in the world whizzed by me on the track with one or two prosthetic legs, one or no arms, or a “guide” runner for those who could not see well enough to run alone. I witnessed many new world records for 100m sprints and even held the starting blocks for one bilateral upper limb amputee from Nigeria who broke the 100m record for his classification. Classifications for the paralympic competitions are based on the athlete’s level of disability, and this “levels the playing field”, so to speak, for who competes with whom. I would explain that further, but I really don’t understand all the classifications yet. Obviously someone with two amputated legs is in a different class from someone with one amputated leg, and the blind or deaf are separated as well, etc. The amputee sprinter in this photo is April Holmes, an American who was present at the competition and won every race I saw her compete in.

After this first initiation into the world of paralympic competition, I must admit that I am completely hooked (if you hadn’t noticed). I’m not only inspired to make the most of every muscle fiber that I am blessed to have, but I am also inspired by their determination and commitment to make the most of every day regardless of whether I am tackling a physical, mental, or emotional challenge. I do not even begin to yet understand the daily challenges that these fine athletes face, along with their less athletic peers, just to dress, shower, eat, go to the bathroom – all of the things that I take for granted as I gripe and complain about whatever happens to be my topic of choice for the day. The bottom line is, regardless of whether we walk, roll, or crawl through this world with a disability, none of us are home. We were not created for this world as it exists today, with pain and suffering and anger and frustration and disappointment, with missing limbs and atrophied muscles or with broken hearts. We were created for something so much better, a perfect place in which we are in perfect relationship with our creator. And we will one day be there again. But until then, we must face each day with courage and with determination, and we must help each other remember that our home will be there waiting for us when these days pass. I applaud the paralympic athletes who I had the pleasure of watching and meeting for demonstrating that resolve.

Photos above are from: http://howtoadapt.com/RacingWheelchair/RacingWheelchair.shtml and http://www.usolympicteam.com/paralympics/news_47603.htm

It Just Keeps Getting Better

There are no words to describe my delight at finding the object below this morning for a mere $5 at the Peachtree Expo.