Imitation is the highest form of flattery

Recently I was told you can never truly know the impact of your story until you share it. A friend of mine who is 10 times the writer I am heard about my story and decided to interview me for her blog. I've never really thought that my story was that extraordinary, honestly I am just a guy who enjoys wheelchair fencing and uses his baking abilities to fund his adventure. The experience and the response I got from this blog

http://chud.com/articles/blogs/2830/GASH-WEDNESDAY-50-Swords-and-Cookies.html

got me thinking, maybe I should tell my story. Thanks Andrea for the inspiration to get off my ass and share my story with others.

You will see similarities between this first blog and her story, for that I do not apologize both stories after all are about my life.



Earlier this year I found the sport of wheelchair fencing, a sport that gives me a chance test myself in combat against another person, and helps me to stay in shape. Yes wheelchair fencing exists and it’s a blast. Sure I could have chosen to compete in one of the sports out there but none appealed to me the way wheelchair fencing did or does.

In case you haven’t guessed by now I am in wheelchair I have been all my life, well that’s not true I do get out of it on occasion, I just use the chair to get around faster, and look cool doing it.

Seriously I have cerebral palsy and have had it since birth, but it’s not anything I would change if I could, and yes I have been asked on more than one occasion if I were given the chance would I want to be cured? Cured I didn’t know I was sick and needed to be cured. People have the misconception that I’m miserable and sad that because I’m in a wheelchair, do I have bad days? Hell yes I have bad days don’t you? Life is what it is. The quality of your life depends on you plain and simple. I could sit in the corner of a dark room and cry and hate my life each day asking "Why me" and I have had those days but eventually I pull myself up and do the only thing any of us can do and that is live my life. The chair has not stopped or limited me, In fact its opened doors for me, I have worked in Alaska, attended culinary school, and probably more that I don't acknowledge the latest is wheelchair fencing. I have jumped into the sport with both feet err wheels!



While I have a BS in Hospitality Management and a wealth of other skills I have yet to find a job and since fencing can be rather pricey I decided to start my own business selling handcrafted shortbread cookies on Wheeling Chef

So there it is the start of my story, a story that some say is inspirational, some could care less and some claim it’s a rip off of others. In the end it is my story, the story of my frustrations, my laughs, my triumphs and my tragedies; it’s the story of one life mine. For those that wish to follow me I don’t know what you'll get, some days it could be a funny story of the church group coming up to me and asking if they can pray to heal me. Some days you'll read about how much fencing sucks when my arms and shoulders are killing me. Other times it will just be a dissertation on the merits of the designated hitter rule in baseball. I don’t know where it will go but isn’t that the fun part? My many thanks again to my friends who have finally convinced me that my story is worth telling.