LOV and thinking snow!

I was able to go out to dinner with some friends from Ski for Light on Sunday which was wonderful. This is the week of the annual Ski for Light trip and I wasn't able to attend this year so I truly appreciated seeing some of the folks and spending an evening with them. The trip is held up at Land of the Vikings (or as we call it LOV) . There's only one accessible room there which is called "Thor" (all of the rooms have Viking names). I remember the first year I went up that I was a bit intimidated that I was in Thor's room.

Anyhow I'm "thinking snow" for everyone up there so the trails and fields are nicely covered and those little "bumps" turn into hills! LOV you guys.
[visual description: An illustration of a Viking is shown. He wears a helmet and carries a shield and an axe.]

Doing the electric slide in a wheelchair - no problem!

{visual description: A boy and a girl in traditional Latvian folk dancing garb are shown dancing.}

I love watching people dance. Tonight at a party for one of my Norwegian friends, a table of her friends from her dancing club performed a few numbers. It was wonderful. Some of the guests, including some of my Ski for Light friends who are blind, joined in. They were teasing me about coming out onto the dance floor, but I pointed out that the part where they go to the right eight steps, then double back two, clap their hands and go right again might wind up with a few sore ankles if my wheelchair was out there.

My friends pointed out that I figured out how to do the electric slide a few years ago at a Ski for Light party and everyone had said that couldn't be done! True enough. But that's only because we got tired of doing the "YMCA" by Village People over and over again and asked the d.j. to liven it up. When he picked the electric slide and I said I was having trouble in my wheelchair doing it, it became a group project to figure it out. And, yes, if you're clever enough, you can make a wheelchair go sideways. Or close to it.

That's how Ski for Light is. We never abandon any project, no matter what lengths we have to go to aid one another. Whether someone is struggling learning to ski , dance or conquer their fear of singing in the talent show, we stand as a group rooting each other on.

And I'm proud to report that one of my very talented friends, Frank Senior, a long time Ski for Light participant, is continuing his music career. Frank is a recipient of one of the most prestigious awards, the National Endowment for the Arts. He produced and performed a series of concerts in the New York area and is a featured vocalist on the CD “New Standards” produced by Robert Kelley. You can listen to him sing at the link above.

Singing and Dancing Toward Inclusion

When I was on my trip at Ski For Light, I asked a number of my blind friends about their experiences going to church. At least three of them told me they attended Catholic Mass in a local parish. When I asked about how their experience was for them, I received a mixed reaction - one reported it was not comfortable, the second reported that it was "okay" and the third replied "I don't know if everyone else is comfortable, but I am!"

Her name was Isabel. She told me that she loves music and likes to sing and dance at every opportunity. (And I witnessed this throughout the week!) She was emphatic about the fact that her enthusiasm for life - and her Catholicism - was contagious to others around her - and she was comfortable with that. In fact, she told me that the bishop knows her and ended by saying "How could he not?"

It's true. She has an outgoing, wonderful personality. Isabel could fit in anywhere.

This got me to thinking. I've always known that perceiving people with disabilities as different is really the attitude we need to work on changing in everyone. For someone like Isabel, her style of dealing with an attitude that she is different varies quite a bit from mine. I intellectualize - she dances. I speak up - she sings.

Neither of us is wrong and neither of us is right.

The bottom line regarding changing attitudes toward those with disabilities and achieving more inclusion is love. When any community acts out of love toward its members, many negative behaviors disappear or get checked as members become accountable to each other and the community at large. This atmosphere allows someone who loves to dance and sing to be herself, another who is more serious to be herself, etc. It also encourages each member to remain open to the needs of others and be open to change that benefits all.

So this Sunday at Mass, I found myself carrying with me the joy for life and faith that Isabel showed me. I smiled more. I laughed more.

Sharing our experience of joy in our lives is a great way to work toward inclusion, no matter how we choose to do that.

Ski for Light 2001 pictures

I've had so many folks ask to see pictures of the ski trip - and unfortunately I may not have those for awhile, but I did find some from years ago.

Click above for a photo album of the trip from 2001 prepared by Ed Kenlon, the husband of one of our skiers, Marilee. (My picture is toward the bottom! I'm on a sitski with poles duct taped on, skiing with Dave....)

You will also be able to see pictures of blind skiers with their guides - and the famed Land of the Vikings!

ski for light pictures

I don;t yet have photos from this year's trip but if you click above you can see photos of a sitski for mobility impaired skiers and of blind skiers with their guides!

Where can you find a quad, over a dozen blind people, several guide dogs and some vikings?

It's got to be at Ski for Light!

I'm just back from the Northeastern Regional Ski for Light program held annually in Land of the Vikings, Sherman Pennsylvania. It's a cross country skiing program held for those with visual and mobility impairments. Skiers are paired with sighted guides who teach them the basics of cross country skiing and, with more advanced participants, accompany them on trails and fields.

There is also plenty of time for socializing.

Ski for Light has programs across the country if you're interested in participating.