The flip side of conformity...

One of my cousins had the following as his Facebook status for this morning: "My wish for 2010 is that people will understand that children with disabilities do not have a disease; children with disabilities are not looking for a cure but ACCEPTANCE........93% of people won't copy and paste this."

Well, consider it copied and pasted, albeit not on FB. Tolerance and acceptance can be tricky. There are a lot of different people out there, and in general, people are afraid of things they aren't completely familiar with. The late, great Mitch Hedberg made a joke about that phenomenon, "Some people say 'I don't care if they're black, white, or purple...' Now hold on, we have to draw the line somewhere. F*** purple people!"

I am in the camp that supports purple people, so I was really pleased to see the following two stories. Baltimore Magazine did a write up on the Allied Sports program a few months ago. The program is a Baltimore County School System initiative for high school students with disabilities. The 16 year-old program puts a 50/50 mix of children with physical and/or learning disabilities and children without them on soccer, bowling and softball teams. Eighteen of the 24 schools have at least one Allied sport. The program promotes "sameness," the chance to shine for children who often get lost in the background.

Canada's Parent Central website posted an article on a little girl's ballet class. Normally a common subject, this particular class deserves a second look. Founded by mom Sarah Nixon-Suggitt, it is Toronto's first ballet class for physically challenged little girls. Three year-old Katie Suggitt, who has cerebral palsy, wanted to dance just like her twin sister. Suggitt's occupational therapist Barbara Lynch worked with the dance instructor to modify the beginner's class for Katie and little girls like her. Each class is staffed by older dancers at the school who volunteer their Saturday mornings. "The best thing, the beautiful thing, is this lets Katie be like every other girl," says Nixon-Suggitt. "We know these girls with special needs can do it too. They just do it a bit differently."

(Photo is courtesy of Angelina Ballerina)

Little ones...

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This past Christmas was the first in which my Christmas cards were divided equally between traditional holiday images and photos of my friends' children and/or pets. Being single and in a no-dogs apartment building, I have neither of those things. I've also noticed as more friends get married/have children, their Facebook statuses (stati?) now revolve entirely around what their child or children have said or done recently.

So with that in mind, today's post has a "little loved ones" theme. Because really, babies and puppies have an about-equal "omghowsupercute" rating.

When I first read "Polar Express," I was entranced. The possibility of hopping a train to the North Pole sounded amazing. And the movie made from that book is awesome (Can I have my copy back now that you've retired, Mom?). I mean, really, the North Pole in that film is great. I want to go there now as a full-grown adult. Children all over the US had a chance to get on a flight bound for Santa this past Christmas. MSNBC reported on plane-loads of seriously ill/disadvantaged children headed to Santa's workshop from cities all over the US thanks to airlines, the TSA and lots of "elves."

Jumping ahead to New Year's, identical twins Marcello and Stephano Velasco may just have been the last baby of 2009 and the first of 2010 in their hospital. The brothers were born just before midnight on Dec. 31 and just after on Jan. 1, respectively, according to MSNBC. Their father hit on the highlight of the twins being born in separate decades: two birthday parties.

And because some people's children are four-legged and furry, I had to include this last story from MSNBC. Due to movies like "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and "Legally Blonde" and a certain hotel heiress, the state of California went Chihuahua loco over the last few years. However, as people realize these dogs are not the best with small children or as family finance dictates, they are dropping the wee pups off at shelters in droves. But thanks to lots of generosity, some of 4700 little dogs taken in over the last 12 months have found homes back east due to a slowly growing doggie relocation program.

Hand touching hand, reaching out...

Sweet Caroline is my karaoke song. I only sing it, in a group, in Boston since the entire bar jumps in and sings both the words and the bah, bah, bahs. But the line from the chorus which graces my post title really encapsulates my theme for today: people connecting.

The Daily Record in the UK is based out of Scotland and had a story on the power of photographs. It seems there is a cancer center there which aims to connect its patients with reminders of the joy of living. The center has established a scrapbooking program in which participants choose photographs that mark the highlights of their lives. The story features three women - Freda Wilshaw, Elaine Doran and Christine Hague - who share their photos and the stories behind them.

Several of those women's photos are of them men they loved. One San Francisco couple got a second chance at first love, as recently reported in the San Francisco Chronicle. After a separation of 30 years, Darrell Holdaway and Nevin Valentine reunited just before their 30th high school reunion. Holdaway and Valentine each married and had children after breaking up in high school but found themselves single as the reunion approached. They met for coffee, and the rest, as they say, was history.

CNN reported on another reunion, one that has caught the nation's attention and held international trade implications. David Goldman was granted custody of his son after his former wife took the boy to her native Brazil for a two-week vacation that never ended. The little boy has been living with his extended Brazilian family after his mother died in childbirth. Goldman and his nine year-old son were reunited on Christmas Eve and planned to spend Christmast together in Disney World after flying home from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

(Photo courtesy of Stroller Derby)

What's your anniversary?...

In my life recently there has been a spate of friends' birthdays and anniversaries, which is funny because a lot of the stories I've been seeing in the past few days and weeks have to do with anniversaries of this or that. I guess it's not that much of a coincidence when you think about it; every day is most likely an anniversary of something for someone somewhere in the world...

In Sweden it is the 30th anniversary of that country's ban on spanking children. The Swedes were the first of 24 countries to introduce the ban in 1979, according to Yahoo! News. The statistics are staggering - before the ban 90 percent of children were smacked compared to with 10 percent nowadays. Critics of the ban then and now claim it leads to unruly children and a rise in crime, citing the fear parents have of disciplining children in case they are reported. However, Mali Nilsson of the international charity Save the Children notes there is no actual legal punishment if "caught." Social workers are simply brought in to help the family. To swat or not to swat, what do you think?

For the both the young and young-at-heart, this year is the 70th anniversary of the movie "The Wizard of Oz." The Huffington Post has a Newsweek video interview with several of the people hired to be Munchkins in the Judy Garland classic. You learn a few fun tidbits about the movie, and seeing the spirited octa- and nonagenarians gives you a smile. Personally, the Munchkins were my favorite part of "The Wizard of Oz." I could have done without the flying monkeys.

This is a fun one ... This next February will be the 30th anniversary of the 1980 Miracle on Ice - the US men's ice hockey team beating the Soviets at Lake Placid, N.Y. Several of the key figures in that movie played for my alma mater, and shortly after the 2004 movie "Miracle" came out, you would not believe the crackpots calling my office there asking to speak with our athletic director, Patrick O'Brien Demsey. Fun fact #1: Demsey is the actor who played Mike Eruzione. Fact fact #2: Mike Eruzione is not the athletic director. Seriously people? But anyway, back to the video. Four year-old Josh Sacco has become an internet sensation, as reported on www.cleveland.com, for his version of Herb Brooks' motivational speech just before the iconic game. The little guy has it bang on, down to the gestures.

I got sunshine, on a cloudy day...

I woke up this morning and once again, it was raining. In fact, I just looked out my office window, and it's still raining. It's that sneaky kind of rain where you have to unfocus your eyes to see it, like you're looking at one of those optical illusion posters. Since the constant rain (and the whole unfocusing my eyes thing) is giving me a headache, I thought I'd look for a little sunshine. 

While posting about the little girl who gave the Yankees player a bracelet the day he hit an inside-the-park home run, I stumbled across the organization who coordinated the visit between the player and the children, Project Sunshine. 

This is basically a group of over 10,000 volunteers who offer their time, their talents and themselves to children and their families who are coping with serious medical challenges like cancer, HIV/AIDS and other chronic and life-threatening illnesses. These volunteers create the materials and go to the sites (in 100 cities in the US and five around the world) to help children laugh and feel like a kid again, even if it's just for a few hours or an afternoon. 

Children in the program can participate in arts and crafts to help them express their feelings about being sick and in a care facility. Those who love to read can be part of the Book Buddies program where they are paired with volunteers to read books or they can join the book club and meet the authors of the books they read. Volunteers are encouraged to sew Surgi-Dolls, so children can better understand (by coloring and decorating the dolls themselves) the procedures they will have. Even the parents receive some TLC with spa days at the facilities. Parents and caregivers who are relaxed in turn help the children stay relaxed and get better faster. 

Call me a soft touch (and lord knows most charity organizations certainly seem to think so given the amount of mail I get), but this is an organization I really feel like I need to support in some way. Just skimming their website while writing this post made me feel better about life...and ignore the rain falling outside my window. 

(Photo courtesy of Project Sunshine)