It wasn’t long ago that athletics was viewed as impossibly dangerous for Type 1 diabetics and America’s most well known diabetic was, perhaps, Mary Tyler Moore.
Today, with new technology, Type 1 diabetics compete strenuously, many with their doctors’ blessings. And the modern face of diabetes includes basketball players, long-distance swimmers, triathletes and Ironmen.
Their goal: To have an entire team of Type 1s compete in the Tour de France in five to seven years.
I have often thought it would be a blessing
if each human being were stricken blind and deaf
for a few days during early adult life.
Darkness would make one more appreciative of sight
and silence would teach one the joy of sound.
Helen Keller (1880-1968)
Kay, 41, and Andy, 46, got together with a little push from the staff at a church in Summit, New Jersey, where Kay is a full-time volunteer secretary.
On their first date, Andy asked Kay to marry him. Kay said, “No, let’s give it awhile.” Andy said, “O.K., I’ll wait a month.” Kay said, “No, try a year.
“They dated for more a year, going to movies, restaurants or plays about once a week, on foot or on the train since neither drive.
Kay and Andy are so loved in Summit that their wedding had 135 invited guests and another 300 from the community who responded to an open invitation.Ruth Lipper, Kay’s stepmother, says Kay and Andy are right for each other because they are “they are both so determined to be happy” and “put everything into everything they do.”
When Stacey Frigerio and Sharif Mahdavian were married a decade ago she gave him a lengthy list of the things she couldn’t do, including bear children.
Stacey broke her back in a car accident the summer after college and was told it wasn’t possible for her to have children.
Not one to take ‘no’ for an answer, Stacey since has given birth to Anastasia, Andrew, and Alex.Today, Stacey walks with canes and leg braces, and sometimes uses a wheelchair. She has an adult tricycle for family bike rides and plays tennis with her children from her wheelchair.
“I always vowed I would not be a damsel in distress,” Stacey told The New York Times.
Click hear to read the love story of Stacey and Sharif and their children.
When people suffer the small genetic accident that creates Williams syndrome, they live with some fairly conventional cognitive deficits, like trouble with numbers. But they also inherit the “Williams Personality” - infectious affability and a love of conversation and company.
See the video
After his stroke in 1961, doctors wondered if Joseph Kennedy would ever walk again.
To play to his determination, his daughter-in-law, Jacqueline, bought him a beautiful walking stick — and engraved it with “To Grandpa, with love, Jackie.” When, six months later, he took his first steps, he did so using Jackie’s gift for support.”
From What would Jackie Do — An inspired guide to the distinctive living of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Click to buy the book.
In this video, a New York City dance company called “Gimp” turns a prevailing notion of physical handicaps on its head with leaps and lifts.
