Mimi Greenwood Knight
Mimi Greenwood Knight is a freelance writer and artist-in-residence living in Folsom, Louisiana, with her husband, four kids, four dogs, four cats, and one knuckleheaded bird. Her essays and articles on parenting have appeared in Parents, Working Mother, American Baby, Christian Parenting Today, Campus Life, Today’s Christian Woman, At-Home Mother, on various websites, and in anthologies, including seven Chicken Soup books. See more of her work at www.writergazette.com/mimigreenwoodknight.shtml or contact her at
[email protected].
“Only 364 1/2 days until Christmas!”
Reprinted by permission of Andrew Toos and Cartoon Resources. ©2005 Cartoon Resources.
The Freed Bird
Come to the edge. No we’ll fall. Come to the edge.
No we can’t. Come to the edge. No we’re afraid.
And they came. And he pushed them. And they flew. . . .
Guillaume Apollinaire
The teenage years are ones of blossoming independence for most. However, being a teenager with a disability is often painful. I watch other kids gain automatic freedoms, while I have to fight the whole way, grasping for my independence like a mountain climber heading for the summit with only dental floss as a climbing rope. The people at the top of the mountain, helping me through the sweaty climb, cheer me on as I wallow in this insurmountable challenge. Sometimes, I hate them for cheering. I hate them for making my life feel like the contrast between achievement and failure. This was how I saw Shawn during those early teen years.
Shawn was my school aide, and she cheered me through the fight and threw me a thicker rope. The only thanks she got at times was a grumble and an argument from me, who couldn’t accept her help. I should be able to do this on my own, I thought. She knew this about me, and never wavered in her support. She never got bored sitting on those inviting rocks, waiting for me to ascend and sit with her to enjoy the view from the vantage of success. I hated feeling like I needed help and, sometimes, seeing her was a painful reminder of my incompetence.
All of this changed one sunny school day when the blossoms were emerging from the long-dormant fruit trees. Shawn and I were walking to the library, and I wished that I never needed her. I wished that she would go away, and hoped that she would take my problems with her. As we approached the door to the library, we both looked down at the crumbling wood flooring, puzzled by the sight of a tiny mound of birdseed that clearly blocked our path. As we walked into the library, I felt distraction flowing from every crevice in the room.
“What’s going on?” Shawn asked the distraught librarian.
“A bird flew into the library, and we have been trying to get him to fly out of here all day,” explained the exhausted librarian.
Shawn, unshaken, saw us to an empty table so I could finish a very arduous history assignment. The small bird seemed to be lost in the building, mistaking windowpanes for exits, fluttering against the invisible opposition.
The bird dived over our heads in several dry runs to freedom. I ducked, but Shawn’s eyes followed the frightened bird. The bird fluttered closer and closer to us each time he dived. Rather than fight the impossible distraction, we watched the bird, hoping that it would soon find the freedom it desperately sought. Finally, the bird was momentarily trapped behind a book that was propped up against the window. Shawn leaped up, brought my history book to the window, and covered the deceptive opening to freedom, trapping the bird. She commanded the librarian, “Get me a towel. I will take care of this.” The librarian, scattered by the surprise capture, scurried through her office and finally produced a tattered, old yellow terry-cloth rag. I sat at the table, motionless, suspensefully watching the bird as Shawn delicately scooped it up, wings, beak, and all, in the first attempt. Her calm seeped into the bird, who moments ago was frantically flitting about. She held the bird securely as she walked with sound footsteps out the door, leaving a large footprint in the useless pile of millet and seeds. I ran to the door to witness the event that I so longed for: freedom. She brought the bird to the far corner of the library, pointing its head in the direction of the best course away from captivity. Shawn placed the bird, still wrapped in the yellow rag, on the ground and walked away, leaving the bird to find his way to freedom. The bird crept slowly beyond the rag, and quickly flew off into the wide and beautiful spring sky.
Suddenly, I realized that I was just like this tiny, frightened bird. Shawn was not my captor. She was gently holding me on my way to freedom. I was fighting my disability and my obstacles, but no longer would I fight her as my enemy, but celebrate her husbandry of my life. Soon, I would sit on the top of that mountain, and fly off of it, free.
Dillon York
Dillon York is a sixteen-year-old who has autism and cannot speak. He uses adaptive communication technology to expose his thoughts. Without this technology, he could not write, and would remain silent. He is an advocate for greater understanding of autism and for communication for all. He is working on a poetry anthology and a novel. Please visit his website at www.dillonsbuzz.com.
Afterword
Connecting Lives One Click at a Time®
We hope the stories in this book have evoked a smile, a tear, a sense that life, despite its challenges, is ultimately good, and that you are not alone with your array of emotions. Our mission has been, and continues to be, to provide support.
While compiling the stories for this book, we received a letter from Sheri McMahon, who wrote to us about an exchange of words she had during a chance meeting in an elevator with a woman who also had a child with a disability. “We were strangers on the same journey and, because of that, we were not strangers at all.” This got us to thinking, Does everyone who participates in raising a child with special needs connect and bond on such a level so deep and personal and known, though difficult to explain?
Evidenced by the more than 5,000 stories that were submitted after just one outreach, and by the vociferous interest that has surrounded this book’s title, we suspect that Sherry McMahon’s statement holds much truth.
At www.soulsupporter.com, we offer a free, friendly environment where members can trade stories about their children, their hopes, hardships, frustrations, and triumphs much like you just read in this book. Our goal is to offer support, reassurance, and additional drive, which only other support providers of children with certain needs can understand. Here you will be invited to meet people from across the world, or perhaps across the street, with whom you can exchange information, resources, recipes, laughter, and shoulders.
To learn more about the many exciting features we will be offering and become a member, please visit
www.soulsupporter.com.
Supporting Others
With each Chicken Soup for the Soul book we publish, we designate a charity to receive a portion of the profits. A portion of the proceeds from Chicken Soup for the Soul Children with Special Needs will be donated to the Bubel/Aiken Foundation.
The Bubel/Aiken Foundation grew out of the relationship between Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel and Diane’s then thirteen-year-old son Mike, who had been diagnosed with autism. Clay met the Bubel family while pursuing a career in special education.
The bond between Clay and the Bubel family grew strong as they shared a vision of a world where children like Mike could be fully immersed in society. Both Clay and Diane had witnessed children with disabilities repeatedly turned away from activities opened to typical children. They knew with the right support system doors could be opened that had thus far remained closed. An organized effort could encourage and facilitate community inclusion and empowerment of individuals with disabilities. This shared goal grew into reality on July 28, 2003.
The Bubel/Aiken Foundation’s mission is to create communities where ALL children can learn, live, and play together. The Bubel/Aiken Foundation serves to bridge the gap that exists between young people with special needs and the world around them. They support communities and programs in creating awareness and opportun
ities for full inclusion where barriers break and doors open. It is their goal to create an environment for children where inclusion is embraced.
To learn more about the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, please visit www.bubelaiken.org.
The Bubel/Aiken Foundation
8601 Six Forks Road, Suite 400
Raleigh, NC 27615
Phone: 919-882-2152
Fax: 919-882-2155
Who Is Jack Canfield?
Jack Canfield is the cocreator and editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which Time magazine has called “the publishing phenomenon of the decade.” The series now has more than 140 titles with over 100 million copies in print in forty-seven languages. Jack is also the coauthor of eight other bestselling books, including The Success Principle: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Dare to Win, The Aladdin Factor, You’ve Got to Read This Book, and The Power of Focus: How to Hit Your Business, Personal and Financial Targets with Absolute Certainty.
Jack has recently developed a telephone coaching program and an online coaching program based on his most recent book, The Success Principles. He also offers a seven-day Breakthrough to Success seminar every summer that attracts 400 people from about fifteen countries around the world.
Jack is the CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises and the Canfield Training Group in Santa Barbara, California, and founder of the Foundation for Self-Esteem in Culver City, California. He has conducted intensive personal and professional development seminars on the principles of success for more than a million people in twenty-nine countries around the world. Jack is a dynamic keynote speaker and he has spoken to hundreds of thousands of others at more than 1,000 corporations, universities, professional conferences, and conventions, and has been seen by millions more on national television shows such as Oprah, Montel, The Today Show, Larry King Live, Fox and Friends, Inside Edition, Hard Copy, CNN’s Talk Back Live, 20/20, Eye to Eye, the NBC Nightly News, and the CBS Evening News. Jack was also a featured teacher on the hit movie The Secret.
Jack is the recipient of many awards and honors, including three honorary doctorates and a Guinness World Records Certificate for having seven books from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series appearing on the New York Times bestseller list on May 24, 1998.
To write to Jack, or for inquiries about Jack as a speaker, his coaching programs, trainings, or seminars, use the following contact information:
Jack Canfield
The Canfield Companies
P.O. Box 30880 • Santa Barbara, CA 93130
phone: 805-563-2935 • fax: 805-563-2945
E-mail:
[email protected] www.jackcanfield.com
Who Is Mark Victor Hansen?
In the area of human potential, no one is more respected than Mark Victor Hansen. For more than thirty years, Mark has focused solely on helping people from all walks of life reshape their personal vision of what’s possible. His powerful messages of possibility, opportunity, and action have created powerful change in thousands of organizations and millions of individuals worldwide.
He is a sought-after keynote speaker, bestselling author, and marketing maven. Mark’s credentials include a lifetime of entrepreneurial success and an extensive academic background. He is a prolific writer with many bestselling books, such as The One Minute Millionaire, Cracking the Millionaire Code, How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life, The Power of Focus, The Aladdin Factor, and Dare to Win, in addition to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Mark has had a profound influence on many people through his library of audios, videos, and articles in the areas of big thinking, sales achievement, wealth building, publishing success, and personal and professional development.
Mark is the founder of the MEGA Seminar Series. MEGA Book Marketing University and Building Your MEGA Speaking Empire are annual conferences where Mark coaches and teaches new and aspiring authors, speakers, and experts on building lucrative publishing and speaking careers. Other MEGA events include MEGA Info-Marketing and My MEGA Life.
He has appeared on Oprah, CNN, and The Today Show. He has been quoted in Time, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, New York Times, and Entrepreneur. In countless radio interviews, he has assured our planet’s people that “you can easily create the life you deserve.”
As a philanthropist and humanitarian, Mark works tirelessly for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, March of Dimes, Childhelp USA, and many others. He is the recipient of numerous awards that honor his entrepreneurial spirit, philanthropic heart, and business acumen. He is a lifetime member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, an organization that honored Mark with the prestigious Horatio Alger Award for his extraordinary life achievements.
Mark Victor Hansen is an enthusiastic crusader of what’s possible and is driven to make the world a better place.
Mark Victor Hansen & Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 7665 • Newport Beach, CA 92658
phone: 949-764-2640 • fax: 949-722-6912
website: www.markvictorhansen.com
Who Is Heather McNamara?
Heather joined the Chicken Soup family in 1996. After ten years she left her role as senior editor but has continued to “coauthor” many titles in the Chicken Soup series.
Today Heather lives in a rural outpost of the San Fernando Valley, where she shares her life with her husband, Rick, and daughter, Kyla. They enjoy the panoramic view of the valley, her garden, and two dogs—both adopted strays. This year has been especially exciting with the addition of two nephews and one niece.
Heather felt sheer joy by being part of such a rewarding experience. The website www.soulsupporter.com, was dreamed of one night after reading so many of the stories that were submitted for this book. Heather noted that many of the parents of children with disabilities lamented that their child had never been invited to a birthday party, and so an idea was born to help these families connect both universally or locally.
Heather coauthored Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul, Chicken Soup for Every Mom’s Soul, and Chicken Soup for the Sister’s Soul, and is currently working on a book for adults with disabilities.
While enjoying her role as full-time mom to Kyla and working on her next Chicken Soup title, she is also a partner in Balance Day Spa in Santa Monica along with her sister Katy.
You can reach Heather at:
[email protected]. Or visit her website at www.soulsupporter.com.
Who Is Karen Simmons?
Karen Simmons is the founder and CEO of Autism Today, a world leader in autism information and resources featuring experts like Dr. Temple Grandin and more. Autism Today also integrates theories and practices that benefit the autism spectrum into other special needs communities, such as Down syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, non verbal learning disorder, Tourette syndrome, and fetal alcohol syndrome.
The Autism Today website provides online support to millions of parents, caregivers, therapists, educators, para-professionals, community members, and those living on the autism and special-needs spectrum. Resources include books, CDs, audio seminars, teleseminars, and webinars, as well as access to worldwide conferences and workshops. It also hosts a membership-based community for blogs, pod-casts, and forums.
Karen’s book, The Official Autism 101 Manual, is winner of the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Gold Medal Award (IPPY) in the health, medicine, and nutrition category. Her other books include Little Rainman, The Autism Experience, Artism, and Surrounded by Miracles. Her CDs include Peace of Mind for Autism and Autism from the Soul.
Karen presents internationally to universities, schools, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, and parent groups. She is the founder of the nonprofit KEEN Education Foundation designed to enhance education for children.
Karen’s passion for those with autism and special needs comes from her own experience as the parent of six children, two with special needs. She makes her home in Alberta, Canada, with her husband,
Jim Sicoli, and their six children, Kimberly, Matthew, Christina, Jonathan, Stephen, and Alexander.
Visit Karen’s websites to receive gifts and your free membership package.
Presenting Today Seminars: Making the World a Better Place
phone: 780-482-1555 • fax: 780-452-1098
www.karensimmons.com and www.autismtoday.com
PERMISSIONS
We would like to acknowledge the following publishers and individuals for permission to reprint the following material. (Note: The stories that were written by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Heather McNamara or Karen Simmons are not included in this listing.)
See Me. Reprinted by permission of Melissa Riggio with Rachel Buchholz/National Geographic Image Collection. ©2006Melissa Riggio with Rachel Buchholz/National Geographic Image Collection.
Welcome to Holland. Reprinted by permission of Emily Perl Kingsley. ©1987 Emily Perl Kingsley.
In the Game. Reprinted by permission of Stephanie D. Thompson. ©2005 Stephanie D. Thompson.
A Message from John. Reprinted by permission of Joanne Elizabeth Clancy. ©2000 Joanne Elizabeth Clancy.
The Miracle of Jay-Jay. Reprinted by permission of Louise Tucker Jones. ©1985 Louise Tucker Jones.
Out of the Mouths of Babes. Reprinted by permission of Sarah Elizabeth Smigal. ©2006 Sarah Elizabeth Smigal.
Tomorrow. Reprinted by permission of Jill Ann Presson. ©2006 Jill Ann Presson.