Archive for May 28, 2012

Rolling with the Blues

| May 28, 2012 | No comments

I attended The Third Annual Brick City Blues Festival at Ocala Entertainment Complex, as a vender with a few of my friends/business team members of our One24 business (www.tjmoon.124online.com).

We all had a great time listening to music, eating food, running our booth and giving out samples of our product. I loved being able to go to an event in my community where a lot of people were, no matter, race, color, age, gender or even disability. Everyone was out there to enjoy them self and check out all the venders, no one cared about anything else.

I was at my booth and rolling around and people were saying “Hello” to me.  Some of them knew me – about half the crowd, and even those who didn’t know me. No one looked down on me because I had a disability but treated me like everyone else.

All people can become even more a part of the community if they got out of the house and went to events like this, went to social events and even just did fun things in the community. Doing this shows people that you are like anyone else and can do things. Plus they get to know you and see that you are a good person and not that different than themselves.

My friends, Janie, Fred and Eric, who came with me to the blues festival and helped, just treated me like a friend and business team member of One24. There was no feeling sorry for the good looking man in the wheelchair or thinking I wasn’t capable of things but we were all equal and were there to have fun and promote our great business that allows people to get healthier while making some extra money at the same time.  I even saw a couple other people with disparities that were at the event.

Thanks to my team and everyone at the event who did not treat me any different than themselves. Get out there and change your life, others and start living life to the fullest despite your disability or anything else!

Squeak, squeak, I think your tires need some grease because your wheelchair has probably been sitting there awhile and wants to get out.

Category: Being Disabled, Disabilities, Growing Up Disabled, Living With A Disability | Tags: , , , ,

Rolling the Track at the Relay For Life Event

| May 11, 2012 | 2 comments

What have you done in the community in the last couple months? Attend an event, help someone or just go to movies?

I attended an overnight charity event on April 13 and 1, called Relay for Life. You may be wondering how I was treated by others since I am in a wheelchair, well hold on we will get there.

Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.

At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.Relayers do not have to walk all night, but each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event.

You may be wondering how someone with a disability participates at this event. The answer is, like anyone else would!

I arrived at the event early so I could help setup and got everything going. Relay started and I helped at our tent for a couple hours, selling food, drinks and other things. I got on the track and started rolling, yes that’s right a man in a wheelchair was about to make a lap around the track!

I circled the track looking at what all the teams were doing and what I wanted to buy. I kept making my way around the track and the whole way around I kept hearing people call my name and cheer me on, wow! Now if it ended here, this would be a worthless blog to read, but it doesn’t.

They had many different activities for teams to participate in the whole night, talent/non talent show, pie eating contest, karaoke and much more. Well guess what, this fellow entered into many of the activities. One was the talented show, so I decided I would do something different and get up in front of everyone and dance in my wheelchair to this upbeat song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGnm9uwu0gs). Man did I bust a move and everyone was shouting and cheering me on the whole time.

Another was the whip cream pie and the first one to find the whistle with their mouth and blow it won. Sorry to say but I came in third but that was not the end for me, so I decided to take the whole pie and smash it in my own face. Everyone laughed and had a great time.

Most people with disabilities are so afraid what others will think, that they sit at home and do nothing. That can change if they just decide to get out there and do because people will accept you, and if they don’t forget them because it’s your life and you will be living it like you want. No more sitting on your behinds and feeling sorry for yourself, it will get you nowhere!

Remember, get out into the community. Have fun. Live your life and keep squeaking those wheels.

Category: Being Disabled, Living With A Disability | Tags: , , ,