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Today I had the pleasure of reading to students at North Side Elementary School in Dauphin County. Many of us at CBS 21 were invited to area schools to read our favorite books to children as part of Read Across America Week.
I read one of my childhood favorites "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day", to Mr. Long's 2nd grade class.
What great listeners they were!
The Alexander adventure continued In Miss Zimmerman's 4th grade class where I read "Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday".
Everyone asked great questions!
Thank you to North Side Elementary! I had a great time!
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In this month's Living Well With A Disability, I met the most amazing man. His name is Thomas Strawbridge. He owned a Drywall business for 45 years and was on his last job before retiring when he fell 17 feet off of a latter. Thomas was paralyzed from the chest down. This was 10 months ago.
While sitting down with Thomas for over an hour, listening to him tell his story, I couldn't help but wonder if he questions, "what if". To that, Thomas answered, "Some things happen to us for a reason--a reason we don't know. But if we spend a lifetime trying to think of it, that'll kill us!" Thomas spent seven months at a rehabilitation center in Philadelphia. He said from the very first day he was there, he didn't think of himself or his accident. Instead, he helped others get through. "They made me a King and a councilor! And I had just gotten hurt! They said, we've never seen anybody like you Thomas!"
His laughter fills a room, his spirit is contagious and his positive attitude is an absolute inspiration. I could only dream to embody half of what Thomas has inside his heart.
Thomas and photojournalist Todd Dinsmore
Today, Thomas is working on building his Gospel and Jazz record label back up and is preparing to get an online radio station on the air within the year. His disability is not a setback for him...he thinks of it instead as a new path.
Lesson learned for me--take your dream and make it happen. Regardless of the roadblocks, pick up the pieces and move forward. If Thomas has the courage and strength to do it, I can to!
To see more pictures of our interview with Thomas click here.
You can see our Living Well With A Disability stories the first Tuesday of every month on CBS 21 News at 6pm and on CBS 21 News at 10pm on the CW 15.
To see all of our Living Well stories or if you want to learn more about Living Well With A Disability, click here.
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Saturday night (2/28) I was honored to be the Master of Ceremonies for the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association 2009 Capital Region Heart Ball along side Tim Lambert with WITF 89.5.
This is the second year I was given this tremendous opportunity and I had such a great time.
This courageous little boy is David Shillow. David had open-heart surgery at just 3 days old, then again at seven months. He will still need a heart cath. David is now 5 years old and enjoys what nearly every 5 yr. old does--baseball, playing outside and the Wii! David's mom Jodie tells me the family celebrates two birthdays for David--the day he was born and also "Heart Day", which is his open-heart surgery at 7 months! What an inspiring little guy!
Other Heart Survivors there that night pictured above: 7 year old Cooper Adams, 7 month old Braden Cemensky, 10 year old Elijah Clair, 16 year old Dillan Frey, 6 year old Bryce Krepps, 5 year old Ryan Swanson and 14 month old Luke Stouffer. The Most Reverend Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, speaking in the above picture, is also a Heart Survivor. We were honored to have him deliver the Invocation.
Above are some of the many donated items for the silent auction
Me and Tim Lambert with WITF 89.5
Two amazing people who made the Heart Ball possible: Vicki DiSylvester, AHA/ASA Gala/GRFW Director and Mike Stevens, AHA/ASA Communications Director.
David and his mom Jodie with Kevin Brinker, Manager of Mountz Jewelers. Mountz donated a beautiful diamond necklace that was auctioned off.
...and the winner of that necklace!
Speaking of necklaces...Creative Elegance in Camp Hill was gracious enough to lend me a crystal heart necklace--perfect for the Heart Ball. My dress is also from Creative Elegance. The handsome man sitting next to me is my wonderful husband, Ben!
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Many thanks to the Cumberland Valley Education Association for inviting CBS 21 to help kick off Read Across America week. Tom Russell, Jason Bristol and I read some of our favorite books to kids at Capital City Mall Friday evening (2/27/09). We had a great time! To everyone who came out--thank you!
Tom reading "Puffy the Cloud that Couldn't Rain"--how appropriate! :-)
I'm reading one of my childhood favorites--"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"
The little girl up front in the blue is my precious little niece!
This little guy is my nephew Devon. He LOVES to read!
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There are good haircuts....and there are bad haircuts. Never is there an in between. The aftermath of a bad cut is comparable to nails on a chalk board--and when it happens, the victim is compelled to tell everyone they possibly can about it, on the off chance someone thinks it was actually done on purpose. Most of us can say, "I've been there!"
Well, today I am compelled to let you know about a great cut---mostly because my little furry girl can't speak for herself. Daisy--my Yorkie--has been on the other end of some horrid hair-dos...and I mean HORRID. Parts of her have been cut, shaved, tweaked and pulled to a point that I know if she had a voice she would say, "MOM! What did you let them do to me?” So on Saturday, when my husband told me he had made an appointment to get Daisy a "professional" cut (my clippings weren't doing the job, obviously) my anxiety went through the roof!
I could describe in detail the next 2 hours of my life, but I will save us both the headache. :-) In the end--both Daisy and I survived! The groomer, Ali, at Benny's Pet Depot in Mechanicsburg, did an amazing job! The service was very personalized and the staff went out of their way to make us feel comfortable--even after my 20 minute pre-cut rant about Daisy's prior hair-traumas. Not only do we love the cut, but Daisy was--and is--as happy as can be! ...and she looks absolutely adorable! :-)
Many thanks to Ali and Benny's Pet Depot! You have a customer for life!
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I had the honor of being Mistress of Ceremonies today for the American Heart Associations 1st Annual Go Red for Women Luncheon in Hanover, York County. Heart Disease is the number ONE killer of American women---and it is preventable! For more information on getting heart-healthy, visit the American Heart Associations website at www.americanheart.org.
Thank you to everyone who made it out!
Dr. Mark Midei, Director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, MD.
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Wednesday, February 4th 2009, Baldwin Village officially opened its doors. The fully accessible housing development in Swatara Township, Dauphin County, provides independence for people with disabilities. Baldwin Village is the first of its kind in Central PA. All 12 units offer features such as lower counter tops and light switches, wider doorways, front loading laundry machines, large bathrooms with roll in showers and a 5 foot turnaround radius, strobes for the hearing impaired, and a fire safety system for blind people.
One of Baldwin Village's first residents invited us in for a tour. Lamont Warren was paralyzed during a football game with friends 2 years ago and is in a wheelchair. This is his first fully accessible home and it has changed his life. To see his story, click on news on cbs21.com homepage. You can also view pictures of inside his home by clicking here.
Seeing Lamont so free inside his home really forced me to think about all of the things I take for granted inside my own. There are no limitations when he goes through his front door--a big change from the unfortunate limitations he must endure on the outside.
Thank you Lamont for opening up your home and your life to us!
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One of the first books I remember reading as a child was “Burt and Ernie’s Fun with Sign Language.” Being the typical four-year old who couldn’t live without Sesame Street, this book was perfect! Every night before bed, I would carefully review the colorful pictures while my mom sat beside me helping shape my tiny fingers into the letters of the alphabet. This book that I cherished wasn’t just for my enjoyment, but rather it was given to me for a much deeper purpose. My mom had experienced a sudden bout with vertigo attacks. After going to a number of specialists she learned she had a rare, inner ear disorder known as Meniere’s disease. It was then doctors told her that within a decade she would be Deaf.
It took some time to learn about all the things available to her – TTY machines, lights that replace sounds of door bells and phones, open caption movies and alarm clocks that vibrate the bed. Eventually, she came to know organizations and people who opened her eyes to these new tools and opened her eyes to living with a disability. Through my mom’s experience, I know how important it is to have that helping hand. When the phone call came through at my desk a few months ago, asking if I would be a part of the Center for Independent Living’s quest to reach out to the thousands of people in Central PA who might need that helping hand, I felt blessed. It was more than irony, it was fate.
I hold a very close place in my heart for the mission Center for Independent Living lives by. As a spokesperson for the Center for Independent Living of Central PA’s (CILCP) Living Well With A Disability program, I am thrilled to announce that I, along with CBS 21, are joining forces with CILCP to create the “Living Well With A Disability” news series. Every month, we will highlight one amazing person who is doing just that – living well with a disability. These stories will inspire and encourage those who think they can’t achieve a goal or perform a task, turn around and say, “Yes, I can.”
Look for Living Well With A Disability on CBS 21 News at 6:00 p.m. and CBS 21 News at 10 p.m. on the CW 15, the first Tuesday of every month. Keep checking back here to my blog for more indepth coverage and to see our stories go to the Living Well With A Disability link on our homepage or click here.
With one in seven Central Pennsylvanians living with a disability, together we’ll be able to reach a number of people who otherwise may not know the resources available to them. If we can help make it easier for just one person to live a more fulfilling life, then we’ve accomplished an amazing feat!
The best prize life has to offer, is to offer life.
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Have you ever had one of those days where you met someone who impacted your life more than you ever thought possible? Today was one of those days for me. Tom Russell and I traveled to Lancaster County tonight--thanks to a very delayed 11pm newscast courtesy of March Madness--to meet a CBS21 viewer. David has called Tom and I on pretty regular basis--just to say hi and to remind us that he's watching! Well, we finally made arrangements to meet David and boy, did we have a great time! What an amazing guy he is--full of energy! He welcomed us into his living facility, we chatted about anything and everything, he showed us the ba-zillion birthday cards he received just days ago and also introduced us to his local resturant review that he writes for fun called "David's Corner". It's times like these that really makes me appreciate each and every person that I cross paths with...and to remember the age-old saying, "Take time to stop and smell the roses"...you never know what--or who--you're missing if you don't.
Thanks David!
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Having been born and raised in Texas, experiencing a true winter--snow and all--was always a rarity for me. I would sit in front of the TV, glued to the Weather Channel, praying for just a few flurries to head my way. But in the short time since I traded in my Lone Star for a Keystone, I've seen snow more times than I have in all my years combined (..we'll keep exactly how many years that is a secret!). I can't tell you what a treat it is! There's nothing more peaceful than watching snow fall on a crisp, cold day! Every Pennsylvanian that I've told this to always responds the same way, "Give it some time--you'll change you're tune!". But until then, I've been enjoying every second of it...yes, even when it turns brown in piles on the side of the road. But this new-found love hasn't only been for my husband and I. Our furry daughters are getting quite a kick out of it too! The first time they stepped onto a snow-covered ground was probably the funniest thing I've ever witnessed. Dixie (the Lab) darted into the field with no hesitation. Daisy (the Yorkie) tip-toed for the first few steps, but it wasn't long before she was running after her big sister as fast as her 2 inch legs could take her, getting covered head to toe! Dora (we're not sure what Dora is...) was a completely different story! She took one step into the snow and once her feet disappeared she froze solid! She wouldn't move--backwards or forwards! She just looked at my husband and I with these big, sad eyes pleading for us to come get her! But after the second or third snowfall of having to sit on the sidelines and watch her sisters play, she finally decided to give it a try. Now it's an act of congress getting her--and her sisters--(okay, and me too) to come inside! What fun!
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I'm sitting at my desk in the CBS21 Newsroom---minding my own business, getting some work done before the 11pm newscast---when I get an email from my colleague, Mike Parker. Please refer to it below:
I haven't seen you blogging yet! Seriously, what are we paying you for? Now blog.
You might be saying to yourself, "wow, what a mean guy", but in Mike's defense, he usually is great to work with. I guess we all have our bad days. 
In my own defense though, I just got my blog up and running less than 24 hours ago. And truth be told, I was a little intimidated by the whole idea of "blogging". I have never blogged before...I don't even have a MySpace page. Text messaging with my mom and my sister is the extent of it! For the last day I've been trying to think of what could possibly be so interesting in my life that others would want to read about. I have my 3 dogs, that my husband and I just adore. I thought about beginning my blog with them, but who doesn't adore their dogs...and why should I think you will adore them too (which I know you will, but that'll have to wait for another time...I don't have any pics to attach right now!) My life is pretty cut-and-dry. Maybe as time goes by something "blog worthy" will happen in my life. But until then, this is as good as it gets!
So until we meet again!...or should I say "blog again"!
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