I Know People...

Yeah, that's right, I know people. I know what you are thinking, I'm something special because I know some pretty important people. Well hell yeah, I am special and I know some of the most special people you will never know. No, not Beyoncé and not Jay Z or Bono or anyone "famous". I know people who matter. Who are special. I know people who have to grieve over the loss of their children. I know the people who have to ignore the stares. I know the people who have to sacrifice everything. I know people who have to wipe tears from their eyes all the time when no one is looking. I know heroes who painfully worry about someone other than themselves. I know the most unbelievebaly strong people who will never be recognized for who they are. I know the people who matter to the people who need them. I know the people who don't eat or sleep because of those who rely on them. I know the stress of not being able to talk to your child. I know the people who lay awake at night accepting the reality that they or someone they love dearly is going to leave us all sooner than they should. I know the people who will forever be the caretakers of those of us less fortunate than you. I know the real heroes who live amongst us unheralded, unrecognized, under-appreciated. I know the mighty!  

Don't Lower The Baskets, Part Deux.

I'm reposting an amended version of my original blog post called Don't Lower The Baskets in order to recognize one of the silent heroes who make "specials" like me feel like we're not so special. This post honors my basketball coach Steve Frantz at the Ambler YMCA. 

You see, I've been in the gym shooting baskets a lot lately and it got me to thinking about how much we lower the bar these days. It's easy to expect less of people and be happy when they exceed mediocre expectations. Whatever happened to setting the bar high and stretching ourselves to achieve at our max ability or over it? I always shoot on the regulation basket. That's 10 feet in the air. Literally 6 feet taller than me. I couldn't make it when I first started, but after lots of tries, I make it almost all the time now. I can even hit a few from the real foul line. I'm not bragging but merely trying to make the point that no matter how high the bar, or basket, and no matter how much you think you can't, you usually can if you try. It's even more achievable if you have people around you to coach and teach and encourage you.  

One of those people is Coach Steve who treats me like all of the typical kids on the team. I'm actually pretty good, hundreds of hours of practice will do that, but I still have challenges and am still different, and Coach Steve makes sure I'm learning just like the typical kids but he doesn't favor me. Mom and Dad refrain from running onto the court every five minutes to help me, and so does Coach Steve. Because of Coach Steve, I'm learning lots of new things and so are my typical teammates. They are learning tolerance and will be future heroes like Coach Steve. I am learning that I'm not so special, and fit in with everyone else. So thank you Coach Steve and all the other silent heroes who don't lower the baskets for "specials" like me and for anyone else. You make us all better and for that we thank you.