Dad and I went flying with Alex today!! It was SO much fun. Seriously, today was one of those days that's going into my mental scrapbook on the "favorite days" page. The people who run Challenge Air (and the pilots, too) do this totally free of charge for kids with disabilities. It was started many years ago (37 years ago, I think?) by a man who was a pilot in Vietnam. He survived a terrible crash but was wheelchair bound for the rest of his life until he died of cancer ten years ago. But he still lived a full life: flying and skiing and doing any number of things he loved. And he started this program, which his friends carry on. They do it all over the country for the simple purpose of showing kids with challenges that having a disability does not mean that you can't have a fulfilling life. It was really inspiring. The kids there were SO happy. So many gleeful faces ...In addition to flying (and Alex got to actually "steer" for a bit), they had breakfast food, a pizza lunch, ice cream, soda, cotton candy, snow cones ... firemen who let the kids dress up and spray the hose ... a bouncy slide (Brendan's favorite, by far! He saw one of the boys do flips off the top, so off course he had to try that! Ah, my little dare devil. I heard a rumor that his guardian angel is growing weary and has put in for a transfer ...) No, but seriously ... they had companion dogs, too. For a hundred dollars, we could sign up for a dog that would be specially trained for Alex. Only a hundred bucks! Of course, we'd have to pay $200 for the pet fee here, but the people at the booth said that our landlords can't forbid us from having a companion dog because of Alex's disability. Yey! Not that we have $300 right now to do this, but ... maybe someday soon. (I keep saying that, don't I? One of these days ... Anyway, back to the scene of the action ...)
The plane ride was a thrill! I've been up in jets several times, of course, but never in a small plane like this. There was quite a bit of turbulence, and when we would sort of free fall (very briefly), I would gasp and jump. I think my dad kind of got a kick out of my reaction! (He told Alex later, "You should have seen your mother's face!") I just kept trying to be logical, telling myself how much safer this is than driving through the Curves, for instance. But it sure didn't FEEL safe! I wouldn't trade away the experience, though, that's for sure! What a rush! It was ... just gorgeous up there. We really live in a beautiful part of the country! And it sort of helped me put everything into perspective, to realize (again) how many people there are in the world, many of them with equally great challenges, that I don't (by any stretch of the imagination) have a monopoly of Life's Challenges, that life really IS what we make of it.
For more information on this program, click http://www.challengeair.com/. This program is held in several locations around the country on an ongoing basis. Parents of children with any kind of disability are encouraged to apply at their website.
(Note: To see the pictures in a window of their own, click on the collage.)
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