Something about Sean Stephenson makes me want to hug him.
I've worked with disabled children and teens and adults before, so it's nothing new to me. I love them. I wouldn't give up working with physically disabled people for anything. It's so amazing, being able to sit with them and have them tell you all the lessons learned in life, all the things they've gone through, and demonstrate their inner strength.
I love my disabled kids and teens. If it wasn't for Maylan and Annelise, I don't know how I would go through the day smiling. They're my sunshines, my babies, my boos, my girls, my favorites, my everything. Last year, I had a hard time leaving them behind on the last day of VACC Camp. I've never been one of the emotional types. I don't cry, nor do I express my emotions so much everyone on the North Pole can see me sad or happy. That day was a first, let me tell you. I had a whole box of Kleenex to myself. My babygirl Amy, which was my camper buddy for the week, was leaving with her sister Makayla and her parents back to North Carolina and I'd have to wait an entire year to see her. Salome died. She won't be coming back for this year's camp. I was overcome with emotion and suddenly, it was all a rush of sadness and pain that came to me.
It's not entirely waterworks, though. My first year I got married. Yup, 16 years old and engaged the first day of camp to my camper buddy Chris. He showed me off to all the other campers and the volunteers, and when he'd see me, he'd shout "Baby!" and rush his motorized chair over to me, stopping millimeters short of crushing my pinkie toe. We'd take long walks around the park and He'd hold my right hand with his left as he steered his wheelchair with his right hand. He'd blow me kisses and sing the wedding march. So, he bought me a little engagement ring at Claire's when we went to Bayside and had his nurse be the witness of our wedding ceremony. He even got be a bouquet the last day of camp. But, you know how men are. He came back last year and called me his wife even when he married Ashlin. It was a little saddening, but Earl took his place as my boyfriend for a week. And what's that!? Brett already staked his claim as my husband for VACC 2011; all the other boys better watch their back because he's a one woman man, and I'm a one man woman.
So, my disabled kids are the best kids anyone could have. Yeah, it's difficult to use the ventilator's suctioning machine at first, and feed them through the g-tube with just the right amounts, but it's an amazing pre-nursing experience. And, who cares that everyone is staring at us when we walk around Bayside and dance around the tables at the Hard Rock Cafe. I know I sure don't give a rat's poo about what they think of me holding hands with a physically disabled teen or child.I've had so many judgments passed by strangers, that whatever they say is only going to make me laugh or smile. Because I love my VACC babies, and I don't let stupidity such as the opinions of social failures taint that love.
Yes, they might think I'm very weird. Yes, they might think I'm disgusting. Yes, they might be scared away. But no, I don't care. Why? Because they're not privileged enough to experience the love and friendship I have. The main reason for everyone's life on earth is to do something productive with it. You don't have to find the cure for AIDS or cancer, but if you just change the life of one person, it's all made sense and worthwile.
I didn't change the life of anyone, in my opinion, but I made someone smile. I made a lot of someones smile, actually. And those smiles, those brilliant, beautiful, heartfelt, gorgeous rays of sunshine, will always shine my path.
Sure, I've had a lot of I love yous bastardized and thrown around at me.
Nothing, nothing, nothing, means as much as a simple, "Rachel, I love you," from one of my babies.
