08/31/2026
Our focus in programs center on learning our strengths, finding our resources and building resilience. I have always been attracted to stories of resilience and thought I would share one close to my heart.
I always referred to Scott as my older cousin who was my brother too. He spent large quantities of time with our family, especially in our very early years. He was so very special to me. We did everything together as kids! I never felt he was disabled because in so many ways, he was more able than most people I’ve ever met.
Scott was born with a condition called Rickets which is a deficiency of Vitamin D. He also had significant pain and disability from the time he was born. Every day for Scott was painful. He had several surgeries before he was 10 years old and many more to come as his years progressed.
In spite of his pain, he played with all of us, rode a bike and even said he was going to grow up to be a WWF Wrestler! He had dreams and goals!
Scott often told me that he tried to make sense of it. One of the things he shared always resonated with me.....he believed that maybe God allowed him to go through this to show others that he was able to handle all this pain and suffering-his role was to teach them that it can be done. He truly believed he had a mission on Earth and I was grateful that I was one of the select few he could be real with.
When Scott was 12 or 13, he was hit by a car and spent the SUMMER in the hospital. This injury further added to his pain and he became reliant on crutches, but never let that stop him. He really was unstoppable!
Sadly, we lost him in 2020. Scott had an edge, so when he passed in 2020, we all sat at his funeral in tears as we listened to Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters and Elvis’ version of My Way.
Resilience is such a buzz word right now, and though we focus a lot on this in our programs, I really feel like sharing stories of resilience helps us see that it has value. It is what inspires us to charge forward. I have learned so much from Scott and his desire to live a full life, even with his limitations. Isn't that what Thriving is all about?