Compassion in Action: Mentoring youngsters with disabilities

I'm always amazed at the atmosphere of compassion I find when I'm in a group of people with disabilities.

This weekend, a group of kids with disabilities visited our wheelchair tennis tournament. Most of the kids were in wheelchairs and some had tried playing tennis already. They were clearly thrilled to be visiting the "adults " but also more than a bit scared.

I approached a wide-eyed little girl who announced she was "9 and a half years old" . She told me that she was the only girl who played wheelchair tennis, screwed up her nose and said "The rest of them are boys!"

I screwed up my nose and pointed at the other adult players and said "Most of them are boys too!"

"I saw that. Yuck," she said.

As I was doing this, I saw two of the male adult players talking to a little guy named Nate. Nate was racing around in his wheelchair from his parents to all of us, socializing and watching the tennis.

"What's your favorite baseball team?" one of the guys asked him. "Don't tell me it's the Yankees."

Nate stuck his finger out as far as he could. "It is!" he said with glee, laughing.

"No."

"It is!" he repeated, giggling now.

One of the former players, Brenda, gives up her weekends during most of the year to coach these kids. They absolutely adore her. She laughed and told me that while most people are enjoying their days off from work on the weekends, she is coaching, but, she added, she "loves it". I can tell from her broad smile that she is telling the truth.

It is so important for children with disabilities to have role models as well as opportunities to exercise and socialize with peers. Their families are clearly thrilled as they watch the children open up in conversations with all of us and blossom socially. Even the youngest among the children gets it- these are adults who are working, playing and enjoying life - all from a wheelchair, like them.

As I rolled past a wide-eyed little boy watching two of our better players hit tennis balls, I overheard him say to his parents "When I grow up, I want to be just like them."

"You will play better tennis when you keep practicing, " his father said sternly.

"Not that, Dad . I want to go to college and get a good job like them," he replied.

Attaboy.