Unlike yesterday, today we did not get to sleep in until 11:00. Wake up this morning was at 7:00 in preparation for a extremely busy day of programming. I got up a few minutes early so I could shower and by 7:30 everyone was ready and we were out the door. Breakfast was at Independent First, the company that Kathy works for. Independent First is a non profit organization whose philosophy helds that individuals with disabilities have the right to live with dignity and with appropriate support in their own homes, fully participate in their communities, and to control and make decisions about their life. This company practices a lot of empathy just like Push America and I feel they are a great mix and its great to spend time around them. For breakfast I had one of the best bagels I have had all trip, fresh fruit, delicious coffee and yogurt. It was a great way to start the energy and the coffee was the perfect amount of boost I needed to get my day going.
Once everyone was done with breakfast we had to keep everyone moving and keep our long day going. Our first friendship visit of the day was at a high school in an inner city part of Milwaukee. At this school there was a summer camp going on for young kids with disabilities. When we first got there everyone gathered in the cafeteria and we performed our puppet show for them. The guys that do the puppet show get better every time they do it and I laugh my butt off every single time. Kyle Marpe is the main guy in the puppet show and I cant imagine anyone doing the job any better. All the campers really liked the show as well, and I was anxious to break up into smaller groups and get to know some of the kids a little better. Before this trip and while on it I have been contemplating my major at school quite a bit. Growing up with Lexie has instilled a huge amount of patience, compassion and appreciation for people with disabilities and everything they have done to make me the person I am today. I have thought a lot about possibly going into special education and possibly one day becoming an administrator but I am still on the fence about it. After this visit I am very sure of one thing, and that is that I will never going into special education teaching kids at an inner city school who are in elementary school. Some of the kids that were in the group with me were awful and I don't think that was caused by any disability. It was a long hour to say the least, and my future career path is still questionable.
After a short drive, and an energy drink we arrived at the Olympic Training Facility to play wheelchair hockey. I have been talking about this visit for a few weeks now, and the fact that it was finally happening got me so excited. There weren't enough wheelchairs for everyone to get on the ice at first so I sat out for a little bit. About 10 minutes in we took a break to meet with the mayor of Milwaukee. While at the facility the mayor delivered a proclamation to us as well as proclaimed July 22nd, 2013 to be Push America Day in Milwaukee. Being recognized like that is always a very rewarding experience and its cool when the mayor comes out and talks to us. After the intermission I got on the ice and had an absolute blast. David and I assumed the role of defenseman and dominated. I was better at the sport than I thought I was going to be and together we were a force. We played for close to an hour and a half and I loved every second of it. Through the fun and everything else going on I became very appreciative of what people who can't use their legs go through. We got in those chairs and played by choice, but at any time we were able to stand up and walk away and not think twice about it. Some of the people we played with got out of their sports chairs, but instead of walking had to go directly into another wheelchair and realizing that is a pivotal point of this trip. I hope in the future wheelchair hockey is something I am able to do again because it was an absolute blast.
We left the training facility and had to take another long drive to get to our last visit of the day. We went to another high school to play wheelchair basketball and other games. We arrived and after unloading the trailers with all the chairs we got on the courts and started playing. Basketball was so much different than hockey due to the amount of control you have and speed. I wasn't quite was good at basketball but I still had a blast trying it out and competing with my teammates. After one of our games I looked across the gym and saw Cate and Abigail, two of the young ladies we met at the mall just two days before. I was so excited to see Cate, and I jumped at the opportunity to hang out with her. Independence First brought two bikes from their office that allows individuals that can't walk to sit in a chair while someone else pedals. Cate and I must have rode around on that bike for over an hour and I had a blast. Her sweet giggle and beautiful smile melted my heart and it was very hard to say goodbye to her at the end of the night. With very sore hands, a bruised ego, and touched heart we said bye to all of our new friends in Milwaukee and made the 30 minute trip back to lodging.
I had an absolute great time in Milwaukee and although everyone was very tired and worn out today it was so worth getting to experience everything we did. The few days we spent here will be some I will never forget and once again I am reminded of how amazing this trip is and how fortunate I am to be a part of it. Tomorrow we get back on our bikes and ride back to Illinois. With a ride short of 70 miles hopefully my pace line can keep a quick pace and arrive into Glenview safely!
Once everyone was done with breakfast we had to keep everyone moving and keep our long day going. Our first friendship visit of the day was at a high school in an inner city part of Milwaukee. At this school there was a summer camp going on for young kids with disabilities. When we first got there everyone gathered in the cafeteria and we performed our puppet show for them. The guys that do the puppet show get better every time they do it and I laugh my butt off every single time. Kyle Marpe is the main guy in the puppet show and I cant imagine anyone doing the job any better. All the campers really liked the show as well, and I was anxious to break up into smaller groups and get to know some of the kids a little better. Before this trip and while on it I have been contemplating my major at school quite a bit. Growing up with Lexie has instilled a huge amount of patience, compassion and appreciation for people with disabilities and everything they have done to make me the person I am today. I have thought a lot about possibly going into special education and possibly one day becoming an administrator but I am still on the fence about it. After this visit I am very sure of one thing, and that is that I will never going into special education teaching kids at an inner city school who are in elementary school. Some of the kids that were in the group with me were awful and I don't think that was caused by any disability. It was a long hour to say the least, and my future career path is still questionable.
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| Michael Walton hanging out with a camper |
We were told early this morning we would be spending a bit more time in the vehicles driving today than usual and that was not an understatement. I felt like we were driving back and forth across Milwaukee, and our drive to our lunch visit took about 30 minutes. We arrived at a chur h to meet up with the Milwaukee Center for Independence. When we walked in the door we received a huge round of applause which, and then got our lunch. The team spread our amongst the tables with the clients, and along with a few of the other guys I sat down with a guy named Matt. Matt was a huge football fan and while looking through his magazines we had plenty to talk about. Once we got on the subject of the SEC he informed me his favorite team is the Florida Gators and at that moment I considered switching tables. We finished our lunch and then split up into three groups to do different activities. The groups did a few minute to win it games, and got to go outside and play kickball. Everyone had a blast, but I could tell my teammates were beginning to get tire. Luckily our next activity woke the guys up.
We left the training facility and had to take another long drive to get to our last visit of the day. We went to another high school to play wheelchair basketball and other games. We arrived and after unloading the trailers with all the chairs we got on the courts and started playing. Basketball was so much different than hockey due to the amount of control you have and speed. I wasn't quite was good at basketball but I still had a blast trying it out and competing with my teammates. After one of our games I looked across the gym and saw Cate and Abigail, two of the young ladies we met at the mall just two days before. I was so excited to see Cate, and I jumped at the opportunity to hang out with her. Independence First brought two bikes from their office that allows individuals that can't walk to sit in a chair while someone else pedals. Cate and I must have rode around on that bike for over an hour and I had a blast. Her sweet giggle and beautiful smile melted my heart and it was very hard to say goodbye to her at the end of the night. With very sore hands, a bruised ego, and touched heart we said bye to all of our new friends in Milwaukee and made the 30 minute trip back to lodging.
I had an absolute great time in Milwaukee and although everyone was very tired and worn out today it was so worth getting to experience everything we did. The few days we spent here will be some I will never forget and once again I am reminded of how amazing this trip is and how fortunate I am to be a part of it. Tomorrow we get back on our bikes and ride back to Illinois. With a ride short of 70 miles hopefully my pace line can keep a quick pace and arrive into Glenview safely!
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