I support Barack Obama

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 20:06:46 -0700

Barack Obama says this election is more than about him. How refreshing. This is the sign of a true leader.

Every vote counts.

Educate yourself on the issues. Get involved.

The time for change was yesterday.

Home sweet home

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:40:43 -0700

It may have been Dorothy who clacked her red heels together and said “There’s no place like home,” but I sit in my purple slippers and my blue flannel mu-mu and feel that sentiment just the same.

When I read the date, August 18, I can’t believe it. Where has the year gone? I know I had goals and aspirations for this year, yet, it has been so busy I can’t begin to imagine what they were.

But now there is time to slow down. Andrew and I are both healthy, there are no more vacations scheduled, our church obligations are fulfilled, my 10 item “to do” list is down to just a couple items, Ernie and Reggie are happy and healthy, LPA Today is between issues, and the garden is ready for harvesting.

So now I am embracing what I call “the power of the nest.” Cleaning, arranging, decorating, gardening, being fastidious about this drawer or that shelf... in short, taking the time to make things “just so.”

Ahh... so yes Dorothy, there IS NO place like home... even in my slippers and my robe.

The Key

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:53:56 -0700

Her name was Sara. She was my camp counselor at a Leadership Camp I attended the summer of 1992, between my sophomore and junior years in high school. I had just been elected to my school’s student council that spring, thus requiring my attendance at Leadership Camp.

What I remember most about Sara is that she was so honest, so cool; she cared so much about all the young people at the camp. But what I loved most of all about her is that she didn’t treat me any differently than any of the other kids.

When it came time for group activities she would say, “Common’ Jody, get in here.” Activities that I am sure the other kids wondered if I could participate in, including me. She created an environment in group discussions that allowed for a free flow of conversation where my peers could ask questions about my disability if they wanted, and I wasn’t made to feel any different for answering them. In fact, remembering back, I realize that there were few questions asked at all.
My peers at camp became my friends who saw beyond the exterior of a short blonde girl with the hump on her back, to who I was inside, a 15-year-old with all the same hopes, dreams and fears as they had.

At the end of camp Sara gave each of us a key. The remnant of metal you see in the corner is what is left of that key. It has stayed with me on my key ring since 1992 until just this week when I dropped my keys and its top broke off when it hit the hot summer cement. She said when she gave it to us to remember it as a key of knowledge— knowledge of what we learned that week at camp; the leaders we are in our school; who we want to be in the world; who we know ourselves to be in our souls.

I know that camp helped to define who I am today. It boosted my self-esteem and gave me self-confidence at an age where both can be scarce. The key became part of my life’s toolbox that has stayed with me all of these years. Every time I have had to start over, either by choice or circumstance, that key has reminded me from where I have come.
In an effort to meet some new people and make some new friends in my new home of San Jose, California, I have joined some social networking groups through the website, Meetup.com. I went to my first Meetup in February for a girls night of bowling. I was so nervous! I wondered how I would be welcomed. I questioned if they would ask about my short stature, my disability, be offended that I want to bowl (most likely plummeting the team average) I pictured the scenario of being the last chosen on the school playground. And yet, I still went, and didn’t even plummet any average. Yay!

My approach, molded in part many years back at leadership camp, has been, that if I don’t make my short stature and disability an issue, no one else will either. And for the most part, it has worked. At job interviews, on dates, even at doctor’s appointments, and now meeting new people with common interests, just being Jody is the most comfortable and successful approach. If an acquaintance becomes a friend then in time they ask questions or curiosities. Yet, based on past experience, in becoming friends, they realize none of our physical differences even matter. And really, isn’t the way it should be?