Life Keeps Rolling

I remember back to playing baseball and being introduced to using wooden bats. All that I had known up to playing in my first wooden bat league was using big and light composite or aluminum bats. My coach showed us the “sweet spot” on the lumber. Right in the center of the barrel of the bat going with the grain. Up to that point, I had never broken a baseball bat before, but I quickly learned what that felt like. If the ball hits off the end of the bat, you start hitting foul balls or dinky ground-outs. If a fastball jams you up and it hits near your hands, the ringing in your hands hurts like a bitch. But nothing beats the sound and feeling of launching a ball off of the sweet spot.  I like to think of life as the pitcher and me as the batter. Life is throwing different pitches at me trying to get me to hit above or below the sweet spot or strike out. I am just up at the plate constantly trying to find that homerun spot without breaking the bat.  In one of my first blog posts, I had m

Quick anatomy lesson: the brain talks to the spine which talks to the nerves which talk to the muscles. If there is a disruption in any of these (AKA a bullet) then the muscles don’t work. So here is where I’m at. I am a C-4 quadriplegic meaning that all four of my limbs have been impacted by my spinal cord injury. Luckily I still have some upper body function in my shoulders and biceps so with practice, I can get by.  One of the first things that I noticed in the hospital was that my reflexes were WAY off. This was my first annoyance. I would have my family throw empty water bottles and foam balls at me so I could practice catching things as a form of therapy. I noticed that when the ball came my way my brain would tell my body to catch it and the ball would just hit me and fall to the ground... and then my arms would move. It’s like there was a two second delay between my limbs and my body. “Hand eye baby, hand eye”. It was always strange when I would have something on my lap and it

Today you get to watch me attempt to address my list of frustrations and annoyances through humor. First I will start with strangers and the things that they do. Next week will be about my physical changes and annoyances so stay tuned.  I’ll admit that I would probably be guilty of some of the things I am about to list if I wasn’t currently living with paralysis. Ignorance is bliss so sorry ahead of time if I am about to ruin your bliss by bringing attention to the ignorance. Wheelchair etiquette. Never assume that because someone is in a wheelchair that they cannot talk. I try to pride myself in looking as “normal” as I can from my seat-on-wheels but that somehow doesn’t stop the occasional waiter from talking slowly to me. Ignoring me and going straight to asking whoever I’m eating with what my order will be is really cool too. This is usually the point where the tip goes “bye-bye” because guess who’s paying... wheelz mcgee over here. I try to give people the benefit of the dou