14 March 2008: New Friends
Mike and I enjoyed an evening with the Tri-State Amputee Support Group (www.tri-stateamputeegroup.org) on Thursday the 13th. Rich and Patty Friend were our initial contacts and everyone made us feel welcome. We shared our story and listened as others shared theirs. What a wonderful group and a wonderful way to learn and socialize at the same time. We're looking forward to the monthly meetings.
Mike is thinking of attending the annual conference in Atlanta of the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) in June. The ACA's website states "The purpose of the ACA annual conference is to bring amputees, their peers, health care and other industry professionals together in one arena so they may interface, share expertise, keep abreast of new technologies, products and services, and find solutions to common problems". I wouldn't be surprised if Mike will someday be a motivational speaker at one of these conventions!
I'd like to also add my thanks to all those who have helped us through the recovery process. Looking back on this past year, I feel proud of us as a couple who not only sustained our relationship but came through adversity stronger than ever. Here's to us, Mike! The best is yet to come!
P.S. If you've enjoyed reading the blog, please sign the Guest Book and let Mike know you were here!
Mike is thinking of attending the annual conference in Atlanta of the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) in June. The ACA's website states "The purpose of the ACA annual conference is to bring amputees, their peers, health care and other industry professionals together in one arena so they may interface, share expertise, keep abreast of new technologies, products and services, and find solutions to common problems". I wouldn't be surprised if Mike will someday be a motivational speaker at one of these conventions!
I'd like to also add my thanks to all those who have helped us through the recovery process. Looking back on this past year, I feel proud of us as a couple who not only sustained our relationship but came through adversity stronger than ever. Here's to us, Mike! The best is yet to come!
P.S. If you've enjoyed reading the blog, please sign the Guest Book and let Mike know you were here!
Comments
mike wrote:
The Tri-state amputee support group was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. It really is a diverse group. I'm looking forward to some of the social events. Rich Friend, a 12 year amputee and our group leader is a well connected member (regional charmen) of the ACA and has lots of active contacts. As I grind thru the speed, distance, off-road terain and hills climbing issues it will be extremely helpful to meet, talk to, and maybe even train with people who have been there and done that.
Bonnie, the (24/7) way you have coped with both recoveries and putting an end to a 20+ year smoking habit has been truely amazing. I am very proud you. You have been and are my anchor and best friend. Thanks so much for being here every day.
Bonnie, the (24/7) way you have coped with both recoveries and putting an end to a 20+ year smoking habit has been truely amazing. I am very proud you. You have been and are my anchor and best friend. Thanks so much for being here every day.
-- 17 March 2008 03:15:11
Lesley Ann Wernsdorfer wrote:
I'm happy to say that it hasn't been quite a year since I last talked to Mike. Happier to say that it was, as always, a great pleasure to talk to him tonight. Yes, he would most definitely be a great motivational speaker. It's late, and I'm ready for bed, but I promised Mike I'd write something. We promised to talk no late than a month from now, and I promise to write more within that some month.
Love you all even though I tend to disappear for long periods of time. You're always in my thoughts.
Lesley
Love you all even though I tend to disappear for long periods of time. You're always in my thoughts.
Lesley
-- 23 March 2008 23:33:43
Lesley Ann Wernsdorfer wrote:
As usual, Mikey and I talked about billions and billions of things. One of them was Howard Gardner's theory of seven intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal. His assertion is that they are all necessary, that none is better or more important than the others, that we should encourage our dominant intelligence without neglecting the others within us, and that culturally we shouldn't let one dominate over the others.
We also talked about what makes Mike's approach to living with one leg different from other amputees' approach. What's coming to mind for me is his spatial intelligence. Mike has a way of soaring above a problem, looking at the whole of it from a bird's-eye view without losing the details of how to go about solving the problem. He sort of creates--possibly subconsciously--a schematic and follows the tubes and wires that lead to the best solution.
So, got a personal issue in your life? Approach it like an engineer.
We also talked about what makes Mike's approach to living with one leg different from other amputees' approach. What's coming to mind for me is his spatial intelligence. Mike has a way of soaring above a problem, looking at the whole of it from a bird's-eye view without losing the details of how to go about solving the problem. He sort of creates--possibly subconsciously--a schematic and follows the tubes and wires that lead to the best solution.
So, got a personal issue in your life? Approach it like an engineer.
-- 26 March 2008 14:57:12
erin wrote:
You know, Lesley, I just had that conversation with Dad yesterday-- I brought it up, and he didn't connect what I was trying to say with what you guys talked about-- but I think Dad's spatial awareness is acute, and I think it's a significant factor in his recovery, particularly his adaptation to his bionic leg.
He talks about what happens when he's falling in such detail (or ask him to describe sometime what happened with the forklift!). He tried to write it off as adrenaline when we talked, and I'm sure that's part of it, but I don't see things in the same kind of detail he does when my adrenaline gets going.
I think there is some interaction between the way he thinks and the crazy stuff he used to do with skiing back in the day (ski patrol, the adventures at Tuckerman's and everywhere else). He knows where all the parts of his body are and what they're up to when bad stuff happens-- I think you have to be able to do that when you ski in the crazy places he used to ski...
what do I know.
He talks about what happens when he's falling in such detail (or ask him to describe sometime what happened with the forklift!). He tried to write it off as adrenaline when we talked, and I'm sure that's part of it, but I don't see things in the same kind of detail he does when my adrenaline gets going.
I think there is some interaction between the way he thinks and the crazy stuff he used to do with skiing back in the day (ski patrol, the adventures at Tuckerman's and everywhere else). He knows where all the parts of his body are and what they're up to when bad stuff happens-- I think you have to be able to do that when you ski in the crazy places he used to ski...
what do I know.
-- 26 March 2008 17:39:50
bonniehoward wrote: