Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!  I hope you all have plans to spend this holiday with lots of family and friends and lots of turkey!  Tonight I plan to go over to my aunts house for a big turkey dinner!  My aunt and uncle just moved to a town near by, Wilmer, so I've been spending the last two Thanksgivings over there.  My mom and aunt have  been preparing dinner all day, which I'm sure a lot of families are busy doing!  I'm excited for dinner.  I like thanksgiving!  Its a family holiday with good food and sitting around a dining room table and appreciating what we have!  I am thankful for a lot of things this year. I cant even count that high but I will only say the top ten things

1.  I love having such a supportive and loving family.  I love spending time with them and they're always encouraging me and making me smile.  They will do anything for me. 

2. Having my disability has made me open my eyes to the world around me a little bit in the past couple years.  For a while, I am sort of ashamed to admit, I had that "why me" fase.  Why am I like this?  Cerebral Palsy stinks. As I  got older I started to  have a different attitude towards being disabled.  I can walk and some kids are strictly confined to a wheelchair.  I am healthy, and some kids are stuck in hospital beds day and night, and I am in NO PAIN WHAT SO EVER!  I have an amazing life, and believe me that's never far from my mind.

3.  I've had some amazing adventures in the past few years!  I've blogged about some of them.  I think I did a whole section on going to the paralymics to be a torch bearer and a student reporter.   That was really an out of this world adventure.   I got to meet Rick Hansen.  Ive been talking about him a bit lately.  Hes really cool!  It was a great family experience. My whole family went and I got to do torch bearing and reporting with my best friend, Grace Brulotte.  She and I have been everywhere together.  We went to Ottawa together to speak at the Senate Chambers.  That was great!  We were there with a group called Cannasist, a group that makes cool contraptions to make disabled people more independent.  They are some of the nicest people.  It was like a big family.  Anothe great adventure  of course, the bugaboos!  I told you how great that was and I got to go up with my school, and wonderful guides, who, again, felt like a big family.  And, my friend Paige ukass, who is an incredibly sweet lady.  I am one busy girl.  I have loved all my adventures, and hope to try new thing all the time!

4.I think I've talked about SET B.C before.  They help disabled kids getting set up with the technology they need to make daily things in their life easier. SET B.C has set me up with a lot of things like computers and big trips, but the greatest gift they ever gave me was a best friend.  Ive mentioned my friend Grace Brulotte before.  She and I met over SET B.C.  There was a contest for SET B.C students to write about their dreams for the future.  Our SET B.C helper made it so Grace and I could do it together so we could meet.  We've been best friends ever since.  We relate to each other extremely well.  Its always easy to talk to her, even when I say dumb things(which she always calls me on,believe me)!  It's nice to be able to feel yourself with someone else.  Also, Grace is very inspiring!  She is one thing that makes me look back on life and realize how lucky I am. 

5   I really enjoy going to school!  I have the most amazing school system!  Everyone is so supportive.  I have  a lot people that  will do anything to make my school day more enjoyable.  When I say a lot, I mean A LOT!  I love who I get to work with at school.  The whole  school district in my town is great.   Also, I know that years ago, disabled kids were completely disintegrated!  They were thought less of and were not allowed in the school systems, unless they were in special school.  I am in a regular high school, and do a full coarse load.  I feel so fortunate, witch is why I work hard.   encourage all schools to accommodate handicapped kids.  They have the right to learn too.  Any physically or mentally disabled child can always learn new things.  They don't have to go to every class. I don't go to gym class.  I have my own exercises.   That are a better thing for me to do. For some kids, learning some things may be more useful to them than others.  Every child needs to learn, and should be integrated with non disabled children no matter what.  You cant live in a world with just disabled kids.  How would you learn to cope if you got into the real world after being coopped up in a disabled school K- 12.  That's why I love school!

6.  Another thing I used to have little pity parties about was having "no friends".  It took me a while to look around and see how many friends I have.  Its difficult for me to hook up with other children to go to the movies or something.  However, that  doesnt mean I don't have friends.  I have more friends than I can count.  Some are over 20, but that okay.  I'm working on that.  Everyone is so kind.  They're all looking out for me.  One of the greatest gifts in life is friendship

7.  I live in a beautiful valley.  I can look outside my window and probably paint a picture if I wanted to!    Everyone is friendly!  The whole of Canada is beautiful!  I've been to places like Ottawa,  and Victoria, and fell in love with both of them.  I could walk around those places forever, or not go anywhere, and go for a drive or walk around town  where I live with my mom and ust love all the things I see.  What a Wonderful World we live in!

8. Right before high school, I got an electric wheelchair.  I love to walk, but my wheelchair has opened up a whole new world for me.  I can go to and from school by myself, I can get to class on time, and I don't need to depend on others to hold my hand to help me walk. I love my chair.  Now, I can pretty much do anything and everything.

9. A couple years ago I started skiing up at Panorama Ski hill, where I live. I go in a sit ski.  I feel so free, skiing like everyone else, and I get to do it with a group of great instructors. Three years later, they now  have started a big program  for all disabled skiers.  They have three sit skis now.  Besides skiing , theres now swimming up at Fairmont pools.  I've never had swim lessons before.  Its great!  I'm learning so much, thanks to this fantastic group of people

10.And last, but not least, I am thankful for being me, disabled and all.  Being disabled is a struggle sometimes, but its also a gift.  I don't know who I would be without a disability. I see the world as a vastly different place than most do.  I do believe, disabled or not, the more a person struggles, the stronger they are!

So, there are the top ten things I give thanks for!  I am a lucky girl, with a great family, great friends, and a great life.  If you want, please comment and tell me what your favorite thing to be thankful for is?  Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!