I only talk when I'm not sleeping:)

     My mother taught me if I had nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all. I must be full of nice things to say:)

     Okay, I spent the first half of my adult life pretending I'm normal, and now I'm trying convince you that I'm anything but... One thing is for sure, it's a whole lot easier being who I am, even if it's not the norm.

     Most would look at all of the things they can no longer do and feel cheated.  I look at all the things I never thought to do, but now I'm anxious to give them a try.  

      I was getting my oil changed last weekend and a random gentleman asked me about my brace (nothing new there...), when I told him all the things I've forced myself to try because of it, he commented that I won't have anything left for my bucket list.  Isn't that the point??  And besides, I'll just make the list longer!!

     But the one thing I haven't lost is my voice!  I mean, my motivation to tell my story to every single person who asks.  My poor friends must be sick of it, but to someone new, somehow my story seems to give us both power.  

     I write my life story as I see it in my head, and it changes daily.  Ironically, I'm not a writer; I'm a talker!  So I write how I talk and think.  

         My story has been shared a few times; for one, the National MS society's Denim and Diamonds...

     And Team CSX used it at their Spaghetti dinner and fundraiser, which raised around ten grand for the MS bike to the bay.

     Eventually my buddy Reeves convinced me to actually ride, and prove different isn't a bad thing. For the record, my legs might disagree... but that's okay! I'm stubborn:)

        My bike is merely a platform for my words.

        Incidentally, some of of those people who shared my story were soon on my team:)

          And besides, how am I supposed to get on Fred's show if I'm not riding??  We could talk about the weather, but bike trails just seem more interesting.

     But then a few of my big brother riders agreed that  telling my story ten times a day to every individual I make eye contact with probably isn't the best way to get my story out (not to mention they probably heard it in their sleep). I needed to first get someone who actually writes, to tell it.  

     So I was interviewed by Laurence Mitchel, who then wrote my back story, the way he perceived it.  I must be an open book, because he was spot on! Check it out!!

click here - Healthy living news - July, page 16

On - line: hlntoledo.com

     And then Mary Helen Darah, who is a free lance writer saw this photo (the one on the top) I posted on facebook from the Bike to the Bay, and asked if she could put it in the Sylvania Advantage Newspaper (it looks like we were within inches of one of us being decapitated to fit in the photo...).  Incidentally, she also asked to interview me, and now she is writing my story as well!!  I'll gladly let them write it; my hope is that one day I will be a public/motivational speaker!  And just as I ride, because right now I can... I talk for that same reason.

     So I guess the moral to my story is... If life presents us with a "story", it's up to us to tell it!!  

Have a great day!!

Christine:)