Actions.

A few weeks ago a coworker and I were having a conversation about a bunch of different things and it was mentioned that he thought I was good at my job. I told him I just come in do my job the best I know how and if that's not good enough then oh well. He mentioned that I probably had a bigger effect on people just by doing that then I could know. I really didn't think about that until this week end.

Friday night my wife and I went to my parents house for the week end. It's about an hour from our house so we spend the night when we go to their house.when we got there my mom and I were in the kitchen and she told me that one of their neighbors, who was a youth leader for me in church when I was a teen, had been cleaning a hand gun in his kitchen. The gun went off and shot through his finger. That happened a couple weeks ago, and the doctors told him they will amputate it in a couple of weeks.

My mom had been talking to his wife and mentioned he could talk to me but not to expect sympathy from me.

This was a man that I looked up to for guidance as teen. So this morning my wife and I went to church with my parents. As soon as we walked in the chapel I heard this man call me. I walked over and was greeted with a hug. Then he raised his bandaged hand and asked if I had heard what had happened. I mentioned I did. As my dad walked up to hear what was going on, the man began to tell me how when he was my leader he noticed that it didn't matter what we were doing as a group but I was always there trying to do everything every one else was doing to. That he noticed I never let my lack of a hand slow me down. He mentioned his wife told him what my mom told her. Then he told me something that really caught me off guard. He said that as he's been trying to do things and thinks he can't because his hand is wrapped up he thinks about me and how I could figure out how to do anything, he tries to figure out how he can do it.

After church my wife and I were talking about this and I mentioned that it makes me wonder how many people I have affected in this way, and that if that is one of the reasons I was born without a hand is to help people know you can still do things if something happens, like shooting off your finger. It all goes back to the conversation I had with my coworker, you never know how people see you when you are just doing the things you're supposed to, the best you know how.

mindless rant

I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. Not much to report. Since my last post I went to a NHL hockey game, I love hockey, but all we have here is a minor league team. So NHL hockey here was a big deal. It was a good, my team won.

Last Sunday I woke up to snow on the ground, which was weird because is didn't get cold until that week. I like the snow except when it sticks to the road and I have to drive in it. When it snows and I have nowhere to go I love to sit by a fire (if I have one), eat tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and watch the snow come down. It really calms me down.

I've been watch reality shows lately and there a couple in particular (one about an airline and the other about park enforcement officers). It surprises me how many people how miss a plane or get their car towed by their own fault can't comprehend that they did wrong. That kind of shows how a lot of people don't have a sense of responsibility.

not much to report

I know I should be better at posting since I haven't posted since I created this blog. This is going to be just some random thoughts that have been going through my head.

Have you ever been somewhere you belong but feel like a stranger there. I recently went to church for the first in a bout a month and felt like it had been five years. There were a couple of people I knew but most of the congregation were people I had never seen before. It was the weirdest felling.

Last week my favorite band had a concert outside at an amphitheater. As I sat there watching the band on stage, with my arm around my wife and looking out over the city. The only thing I could think of is "this night couldn't be better."

Recently my wife and I started a diet and exercise routine. Last week we did good but this week we didn't get out much for our exercise part. Have you ever noticed how different the neighborhood looks at 4:30 am. Not many light on inside houses, kind of eerie if you ask me.

intro

I am a man who was born without a right hand. I have spent most of my life trying to prove to people that I am pretty normal and can do most anything that other people can. From riding a bike to playing baseball, I have been impressing people by being able to do these things. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, far from it, I just want to let people know that people who are different still can do things normal people do.
Ever since I can remember people are surprised when I tell them I can tie my shoes, ride a bike and drive a car. I had a boss that I think he thought he was the only one who would give a guy like me a job and when ever he brought clients around he would "show me off" like saying look I help the disabled guy out.
Now in my 30s and a successful designer in an engineering company looking back on my life I notice that its interesting to watch people's first encounter with "the little hand" as I call it.