Being propelled by the teachable moment

All parents of a child with a disability, I’ll bet, have let the moment slide at one point or another. You hear it and for whatever reason, you don’t respond. And then you suffer pangs of guilt for allowing ignorance to linger out there. Not just about your child, but about people with disabilities generally. You think of all kinds of things to say, things you should have said, and you torture yourself for not speaking up. That’s how this dad from Nova Scotia felt. But he did something about it.

If you don’t feel like giving this Dad, and his son, a hug or at least a good hearty handshake after reading this, you need to get your heart checked out.

Meet Turner and his pretty cool dad Robb.

Lovely Lisa

You know how some people believe they have a twin out there somewhere, or at least a separated-at-birth kind of kindred spirit? Well, I’ve got one and after 15 years of electronic connection, I finally met her today. Lisa Bendall has been one of my writer heroes since back in the old Abilities magazine days when she was managing editor. She’s been there at the end of the Send key for years, answering my inane questions about freelance writing, disability issues, self-publishing, good deeds, you name it. Today, at long last, we met in the flesh in Toronto and, launched by a big “can’t believe it” hug, we had a long, chatty lunch at at The Blake House (ooo, recommended!). As a small thank you for everything she’s done for me, she is now the proud owner Life of Pi, featuring a newly-minted Yann Martel autograph and original doodle – a girl, who oddly bears a striking resemblance to Lisa, in a lifeboat with an very skinny Bengal tiger. A fitting gift for someone who has thrown me lifelines of advice for at least two decades.