SPECIAL PEOPLE

If you have been reading my posts this past week, you will have already heard about my friend's daughter Sara ,who just last week won a GOLD medal at the Winter Special Olympics in St. Albert, Alberta. 

For a day or so I have been mentioning Sara's win to people everywhere I go, and I have been shocked at some of the responses I have received.  Most people have been very happy for Sara's accomplishment, but the few others that have laughed, or commented about the "Watered down Olympics" have really disgusted me.

Can you imagine a grown "professional" making a comment such as that above about a 15 yr old special needs child, who travelled 800 miles away from home to a strange place, who with hundreds and thousands of people watching her, managed to focus on her task and do it well enough and with enough heart to win a GOLD medal?   Can you imagine how ignorant, and STUPID that grown "Professional" looks and sounds by making an ignorant and stupid comment such as that!

Look at this picture and tell me you can't feel pride for this young woman's achievement.  If you can't - you are pathetic.

It's not the first time I have heard such comments - and sadly I know it won't be the last.  A very dear friend  of mine has a "special" daughter.  This daughter lived with her mother all her life, and now is 72 yrs of age - the mother is 103 yrs old.  The daughter just retired from her position at Safeway, and now lives alone in a seniors apartment complex.  She single-handedly was responsible for her mother's care and well-being  right up until her mother went in to a nursing home at the age of 100 yrs of age -  3 yrs ago.  Think about it - she who, according to many should have been institutionalized at the age of 4, cared for a aging parent and a home and a yard for pretty much all her adult life.  And she did it better than most of us "normal" folks could have, and better yet - she did it with pride, love, and not EVER a word of complaint or regret. 

Look at this picture and tell me you can't feel joy at this woman's achievement.

The mother(wearing black) is 97 yrs old in this picture and was still able to live in her own home, because of the daughter's excellent care. 

There are millions of "Special" people in our world, they quietly make their way through life without mention or acclaim.  We applaud the creators, the teachers, the inventors, the quick-minded, the rich... that's the way of our world.  Maybe that's what's gone wrong with our world as well.

Maybe we are forgetting what is "Special" and what is learned.  Could be there is a huge difference between the two.

I am in awe of the Sara's and the Glenda's of this world; and the parents that nurture these children into committed caring adults are and should be role models for all parents, everywhere.

GOD BLESS "SPECIAL" PEOPLE!