Growing up with a Handicap Sibling

I didn't really think much about it; it was just the way things were. There we some things that were ingrained in me, fetching things for Tori, being quiet so she could use her voice typing program, opening doors for her, going up ramps, walking in front of her so she could navigate through crowds. I'm a naturally selfish person so I wasn't really thrilled to be having to help her get every thing, but we managed. As I've gotten bigger, I'm able to move her and her wheel chair into the car myself so if we want to go somewhere with just the two of us we can. She can't go for walks in areas without hard level ground so muddy lawns or grassy hills are out, so are most trails.

 

I still remember her going to Easter Seals although I didn't see much of it. They had all sorts of equipment and many kids with different abilities. One thing we did together was when she had therapy in the warm water pool they installed and the rest of the family could come and use the warm pool at open swim hours. The pool was about the temperature of a bath tub and mostly 3 to 4 feet deep. It had a rubbery bottom not hard concrete like most swimming pools. It was good for practicing walking and moving for mobility challenged people. And of course there was a hot tub section with massaging jets.

 

All in all, I think Tori is a fun sister to be around and its nice to do things with her and sad we don't do more.

-Olivia

A Few Thoughts on Friends

This is something that has been on my mind for the past week, mostly because I miss my best friend and wish I was doing stuff with him.

I'd be the first to say I don't have a lot of friends, but the friends I do have a very important and a lot of them are good, God-fearing people-something I feel is very important.

To understand my point of view I feel it is important to explain where I have been as far as my friendships. When I entered school I was like a lot of kids my age I just wanted to make friends and connect with people. My first friend was a boy from my kindergarten class named Jeff (I don't remember his last name as that was a long time ago) I didn't really have a lot of friends until later in elementary school, most of this was because I went to a school where the disabled students didn't interact with the able-bodied students we were segregated a lot of the day and I didn't talk to that many people until I changed schools 2 years later.

 The 2 other friends I remember from my first school, Thomas Jefferson, are a boy named Dax and a girl named Lindsay, who was my best friend until I changed schools. My only real memory about Lindsay as we were both crazy about the Lion King at the time and dressed up as lions for the school talent show and sang one of the songs from the movie. We lost touch after I changed schools and I never really found out what happened to her.

Another one of my best friends didn't come from school, but from church. I was friends with the pastor's daughter of our old church for a few years before we left for our current church. I include her in this post because she was one of those people that made an impression on me even though I was only 9 years old at the time.

The first friend I made when I transferred to Banner (the elementary school I was at until sixth grade) was my friend Jeremy, who I am still friends with to this day. That in itself is a long history so I'll try to be brief as possible.

I met Jeremy when I didn't know anybody and it was at a time where in a school when I was one of few special needs students I stuck out like a sore thumb. I eventually made friends with one of the boys in the special-needs class I was in for math, but more about him later.

I met Jeremy in the cafeteria-that I remember clearly although the exact details now are fuzzy. I think he had asked me where the ketchup was or something like that. I still don't know why I was the person he gravitated towards, probably because we were in class together and he recognized me. I remember he just sat down at lunch one day and we had started talking, and have been talking ever since.

I have a lot of really good memories with Jeremy in elementary school, it would probably take forever to list them all, but along with the rest of my elementary school memories it came down to one thing initially Jeremy and I needed each other and I think that's why we were, and are so close.

L to R: Joey, me and Jeremy during our class Valentine's Day 

party; 5th grade

The other person I met in elementary school was a boy named Joey, he goes by Joseph now, but to me he'll always be Joey, because he was the only other student other than Jeremy who saw me exactly for who I was. I have to favorite memories with Joey, and I think had the situations been different I probably would have ended up dating him. They were both later on when we were in middle school in eighth grade. First, one Valentine's Day I was sick and when I returned to school the next day he left a carnation on my desk which my teacher had kept for me, and second he was the one person that danced with me at one of the school dances even when Jeremy wouldn't. When I think of Joey now I just remember him as being a sweet caring guy.

Jeremy and I at 10 or 11; we're changed a lot since then

-Tori


Please donate to our campaign for woman's literacy: https://www.mygfa.org/7fq/

Childhood Memories: Stuffed Animals-"Animal Kingdom" Part 2

Reading Olivia's post last week about playing with our stuffed animals when we were growing up really got me thinking. Probably one of my favorite memories of playing with our stuffed animals was when we all played together. Specifically, the thing I remember most is the "presentations" we did every time we got a new toy.

If any of you reading this are familiar with The Lion King and the opening scene of the film, that is what we based our introductions of our new animals on and we would hold up the new toy before the rest of the animals (suitably arranged). At some points it did look like the presentation in the movie because between the 3 of us my brother, sister and I had hundreds of stuffed animals. Every time we had a new toy we did this, we would bring in our stuffed animals, and dump them on the floor and set them up. Then I would put in my Lion King soundtrack and everything would go forward as we saw fit. Afterwards, we would settle into another story in continuation from something we had played previously, or some type of new storyline that my brother or sister had devised.

Our "stories" were never really organized (although sometimes I wanted them to be) but it only made sense to us.

My sister Olivia and I on our old deck playing in our playhouse, with Kiff the cat

We grew up, as children do and most of our stuffed animals were given away, although we still kept a few me, a few dogs and cats they been given as presents or toys I had since I was very young. Olivia still has quite a few as well, but now they're only either in storage, or in my case on a shelf in my apartment. My oldest stuffed animal is a cat I called Kiff, I've had her since I was 3 or 4, maybe longer; she was one of my first toys.

-Tori

Gospel For Asia

Our family started giving to GFA when we read Revolution in World Missions by KP Yohannan. My mother, Dad, and I all were really enthused by the vision of reaching all of India and Asia with the gospel. We were encouraged to give to GFA by there financal policy of sending 100% of money received for missions work to the missionaries in Asia. They only fund their US office from the giving specifically dedicated to their purpose. They have a great variety of ministries they pursue in Asia and more have been added as they grow and expand. We started by supporting one missionary, Pahen, through regular payments of 30 dollars a month. We also give through their Christmas giving program where the giver designates what gift .i.e.(chickens or cows, bicycles, bibles or literacy classes) they want to give and then GFA determine people in Asia to receive the gift. A further GFA ministry our family is heavily involved in is the Bridge of Hope (BOH) where a child from the Dalit or other low castes is sponsored to go school and receive care from a center in India with teachers and volunteers.

-Olivia




Please donate to our campaign page for womans' literacy.

 https://www.mygfa.org/7fq/

What is Easter Seals?

Olivia pointed out when she looked at the blog on Wednesday I needed to explain what Easter Seals was. (See post "My Earliest Memory") so that's how I decided what my next topic would be.

Easter Seals is a facility that helps children with disabilities (they apparently kick you out after you turn about 21 or so) I went to Easter Seals from the time I was 18 months old to about the time I was 18 or 19 and afterwards I only went there for equipment fittings, my walker fitting in 2012 being my last one.

I had two main therapists over the course of my life. The first of these was an occupational therapist named Karen. I HATED occupational therapy because I felt what they were doing wasn't helping, and after I was in elementary school for a while I stopped this therapy altogether. The other therapy I had was physical therapy, the therapist I had was named Gretchen. She was my therapist for that entire time from the time I was about to to the time I was 18, when I graduated high school. Not a lot of people can say they've known one person that long, is weird sometimes because Gretchen remembers things about me I don't even remember because she's pretty much known my entire life.

When I was about 12 or 13 Easter Seals moved and was completely remodeled (new building and everything). The new building not only expanded the therapy wings but had an exercise room, a warm water pool and a daycare facility.

I have a lot of stories to tell about my therapy sessions there, both in the old and new building, like the time I would always sing for the therapists when I was done exercising, or the time I ended up writing a song and being on the radio. When I was 8 I was an Easter Seals ambassador and I went to all these functions one of which I sang a song in front of 1000 people (I have never done that since). Another  incident I remember was when there was a tornado (sometime after the new building had been constructed) and the power went out, everybody that was having therapy was stranded in the hallways in the dark until the power came back on.

Easter Seals was a big part of my life, and gave me the tools I needed to be a successful disabled adult, even though I didn't apply many of them until many years later.

-Tori

Childhood Memories-Stuffed Animals Part 1

When I was little before I began reading and often played with stuffed animals. I was very picky about what animals I'd play with. They had to be soft through every limb needed to be mobile. I also want realistic and exotic animals, although I had a fair selection of dogs and cats I also had in my menagerie lions, bears, zebra, pterodactal, snakes, rabbits, mice, frogs, owls and eagles, unicorns, and a pegasus. Once beanie babies came out I collected a fair number of those as well. What I would play would be to act out stories with the animals they all could talk to each other, but each had unique abilities according to their type. I like action adventure stories where everyone could fly and there were epic battles for the crown. It also set the stage for my enjoyment of such stories for years to come.

-Olivia

An Introduction part 2 by Olivia

Hello I'm Olivia.  I'm an electrical engineer.  I'm currently between jobs so I have plenty of time to work on a blog.  Generally I shun social media, but I'm making an exception for this blog to support women literacy teaching.  I also like to crochet and I've done a little knitting as well.  I'm interested to see what will result from writing this blog.  I'm looking forward to working with my sister on something and seeing what results we get.

My Earliest Memory

I've been wanting to write a post on this for a while, but I've been trying to figure out how to do it.

My earliest memory is probably from when I was about two. I can remember being at the Easter Seals preschool and playing in this big "table sandbox" that was full of dried rice, beans etc. I can't even remember exactly what was in it. All I remember is how much fun I had running my fingers through the stuff. I don't really remember that many details, my early memories are just kind of a series of moments.

-Tori

Campaign update-4-5-15

I thought I would give whoever is reading this an update on our women's literacy campaign. As of 4-2-15 we have raised $710 (10 of that contributed by yours truly) mom suggested I put $10 in every month off the top of my income, it isn't much but every little bit helps. I am proud of the progress we have made so far.

Please donate:  https://www.mygfa.org/7fq/

Check out the new post from my sister coming later this week.