![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
From a co-worker:
"Hi Everyone,
My 4 year old nephew Robert has severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy which confines him to a wheelchair. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are having a fundraiser for him on Saturday, April 13th from 7:00-11:00 p.m. at the Lowell Elks in Lowell, MA to assist in the purchase of a wheelchair accessible van. There will be a DJ, raffles, food and fun and a raffle for a 2002 Harley Davidson Motorcycle.
The entire family is trying to sell tickets for the fundraiser. The cost for each ticket is $10. If you are interested in buying tickets for this event or would like to make a donation, please see me. Your donation would be greatly appreciated."
*******
I hadn't thought of Kristen and Matthew in may years until this morning when I saw this e-mail. They were kids that lived down the street in a tan house that seemed to only hold people for a couple of years until they got tired of the area and moved away (some of us wondered if it was haunted since all of the other houses were inhabited by the same family for eons). My brother hung out with Kristen and Matthew and I baby sat them from time to time.
Kristen was a spritely girl with messy blond hair and always had a scraped knee from all of the running around. Matthew had BRIGHT red hair, a bit longish due to needing a haircut (I don't think his family had a lot of money). Some of the older kids used to pick on him because he wasn't the 'brightest bulb on the tree' and he had a funny walk. I remember the day that I asked my Mom what was wrong with Matthew and she told me that he had Cerebral Palsy - that some day he wouldn't be able to walk anymore and that if he lived past age 15 it would be a miracle.
I think it was the first time that death of the young had been so close to me, I mean I'd had pets die on me but they were all old (as far as pet ages go) and my Papa was slowly withering away due to lung Cancer; it was sad yeah, but he was old too. I couldn't imagine that this energetic (though awkward) BRIGHT boy may not live to graduate from High School.
So I wonder how Matthew did (or is doing) with his life and I hope it is/was a happy one. He was a lot higher functioning than my co-worker's nephew . . . I can't imagine being a 4 year old, living in a wheelchair and being fed through a tube. I think of my 4 year old nephew and his mobility, and my family's mobility, and my love's mobility, and my friend's mobilities, and my own mobility . . .
I'm really appreciative of the things that I have right now, and though I don't think I'll be shakin' my butt at the Elks in Lowell I'd really like to scrape up some money for a donation - anything to make the lives of a very special family a teeny bit easier.
"Hi Everyone,
My 4 year old nephew Robert has severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy which confines him to a wheelchair. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are having a fundraiser for him on Saturday, April 13th from 7:00-11:00 p.m. at the Lowell Elks in Lowell, MA to assist in the purchase of a wheelchair accessible van. There will be a DJ, raffles, food and fun and a raffle for a 2002 Harley Davidson Motorcycle.
The entire family is trying to sell tickets for the fundraiser. The cost for each ticket is $10. If you are interested in buying tickets for this event or would like to make a donation, please see me. Your donation would be greatly appreciated."
*******
I hadn't thought of Kristen and Matthew in may years until this morning when I saw this e-mail. They were kids that lived down the street in a tan house that seemed to only hold people for a couple of years until they got tired of the area and moved away (some of us wondered if it was haunted since all of the other houses were inhabited by the same family for eons). My brother hung out with Kristen and Matthew and I baby sat them from time to time.
Kristen was a spritely girl with messy blond hair and always had a scraped knee from all of the running around. Matthew had BRIGHT red hair, a bit longish due to needing a haircut (I don't think his family had a lot of money). Some of the older kids used to pick on him because he wasn't the 'brightest bulb on the tree' and he had a funny walk. I remember the day that I asked my Mom what was wrong with Matthew and she told me that he had Cerebral Palsy - that some day he wouldn't be able to walk anymore and that if he lived past age 15 it would be a miracle.
I think it was the first time that death of the young had been so close to me, I mean I'd had pets die on me but they were all old (as far as pet ages go) and my Papa was slowly withering away due to lung Cancer; it was sad yeah, but he was old too. I couldn't imagine that this energetic (though awkward) BRIGHT boy may not live to graduate from High School.
So I wonder how Matthew did (or is doing) with his life and I hope it is/was a happy one. He was a lot higher functioning than my co-worker's nephew . . . I can't imagine being a 4 year old, living in a wheelchair and being fed through a tube. I think of my 4 year old nephew and his mobility, and my family's mobility, and my love's mobility, and my friend's mobilities, and my own mobility . . .
I'm really appreciative of the things that I have right now, and though I don't think I'll be shakin' my butt at the Elks in Lowell I'd really like to scrape up some money for a donation - anything to make the lives of a very special family a teeny bit easier.
