We have been addicted to the Olympics. We usually are, but this year especially so, and Kansas City is ranked #2 in the country for most watched viewers. What better way to spend a couple of weeks than admiring athletes whose training and dedication combined with power, skill and speed exceed us in every way.
We had a boy who lived on our block who was Will’s best friend. His forearms were about half their normal size causing multiple problems especially with his hands. Everything from unwrapping a popsicle to writing was difficult for him, but his parents raised him as if there was no difference between him and his brother. They moved many years ago, and every now and then he will show up at our door and the house rejoices at a Kevin sighting.
When he was in 4th grade he had to fill out a get-to-know-you paper on the 1st day of school. The person he’d most like to be when he grew up? His friend, Will Fisher. His teacher had Will the year before and called to tell me that in twenty years of passing that paper out, no kid had ever put another student’s name as an answer to that question.
They were the best of buds and ran the street like little hoodlums. His parents taught him that nothing he wanted to do was off limits. His friend taught him how to pee outside so precious play time during summer breaks and after school wasn’t wasted in the house.
Here’s to overcoming the odds…………and getting by with a little help from our friends.
