After doing my own field work practice I was able to actually discover a few things in the way we celebrate death compared to those who maybe live on a different planet or Mars to be exact.One thing I learned from my observations was that even though the group being observed was mourning it was all in celebratory fashion.In my observation I was actually amazed how I had not seen a single tear shed by anyone.From the time of my observation I seen plenty of hugs, handshakes and large amounts of laughter.The hot coals on the grill  filled the neighborhood air with the aroma of good BBQ seemingly for miles.

So you ask what is it about there culture beliefs and structures that produce these practices? Kari Young a community leader and advocate for some of today’s inner city youth groups and programs.Took the time to enlighten me that “ Its not about the death or passing of someone, it’s how us as friends and family members continue to share and honor their legacy after they have passed.”

Many times in cities where poverty levels are high that causes for a lot violence.The City of Flint deals with death and poverty on a regular basis.So many deaths can also be  traumatic to the community because overtime it becomes a normalcy.If we cried and mourn for all the people who died in our life we probably would be sad for the rest of our natural lives .Personally I love seeing cultures not grieving the death of a love one but actually celebrating them. I believe when death is so common it’s best we have other methods of grieving that tends to actually uplift us as a whole.Especially when pertaining to coping purposes seeing everyone in the world sees things differently from one another.

I love traveling so taking the kids out of town for some fun is typically a normal thing for me because seeing my family happy is what keeps me going.Many of times due to my schedule and school I’m always busy but no matter what for my family I always make time. This Challenge was pretty cool to say the least because it makes you consider every moment of the day.Often we live life and tend not to reflect on all the moments of our daily lives.Rather it be from entertainment, food, employment, this challenge really made me think deeper into many of the daily activities we hardly ever notice us engaging in.

However despite my urge to watch tv I had previously planned a series of events and leisure activities for me and my son to participate in in order to make time fly by.Our first activity involved pour in painting using canvases.So seeing that today is a nice day I figured we would paint for a few hours outside in the back yard.After we painted 2 canvases a piece I let my son ride his big wheel as I followed behind on my bike and before I even looked up we had been riding around for at least 2 hours.The sun is currently beating us down,While we play fight in the yard with styrofoam swords just to kill some time before I take him to the park like I promise.After getting us showered and dressed me and my son took a 4 hour super nap.After our nap we drove to Cranbrook apartments to celebrate the life and memory of my great Aunt.While at the ceremony my son had the opportunity to play at the park with family eat and tire himself out so this is how our Saturday night will continue. 

Today however was another fun filled event day. I woke up this morning super early because I didn’t really sleep that well. I literally tossed and turned and I honestly believe it’s from not having my tv on if I had to take a guess. I made us breakfast in the morning which included waffles with peaches cinnamon, sugar and Reddi whip with a side of grits, eggs and bacon.Afterwards I took my son outside to play while I cut down twigs and branches  in my backyard.Today is also my niece open house from 3-8 so we’ll be with my family the most part of the day compensating for the lack of television we’ve been having.

The open house was awesome there was an assortment of food, snacks, 2 cakes and a ice cream truck I thought was pretty cool.The location came with a trail and a park for the kids to play,So after eating my mom, son and I did some well needed playing as we were kids.

Overall taking a break from television wasn’t that easy the first few hours,However having all this extra time showed me that it’s other activities that I actually enjoy and can compensate for the lack of tv watched. I think if I actually continued this experience I would actually lose my mind. I’m actually not big on watching tv but I’m a huge sports fanatic and I need my daily dosage of “SportsCenter”.

Struck by a drunk driver myself it left me paralyzed for 6 months, Three years later this is something I still find myself pushing through and trying  to manage. I work with many patients throughout the state and many times we educate each other about our injuries. I personally have a incomplete C2-C4 spinal tear which prevents the range of motion my arms can go. However the eye opener is that even though thousands of people have this same exact injury many of our symptoms are completely different.Often people who go through a spinal cord injury don’t fully recovery.Some are committed to wheelchairs and walkers while others are limited in how much time they can be on their feet,While others may suffer from bladder and boils issues while suffering from a TBI or traumatic brain injury.

So for months I’ve always wanted to participate in wheelchair tennis. Hearing all the stories from my patients made me even more eager to participate.Watching people like myself who aren’t capable of walking ,etc, Simply enjoying other aspects of life is very encouraging to me so I finally took up my buddy Kelly who also is an quadriplegic but plays all tennis all the time.Personally I had a few questions I needed answers to.Like how do you steer the wheelchair and hit the tennis ball for starters.

1. 7:45 Left home and jumped on the expressway headed to Midland 

2. 8:41 arrived at Greater Midland Tennis center.

3. 8:47 met up with Eric my Recreational therapist outside and talked about how excited I was to finally have the opportunity to play against some real tennis players with similar injuries as myself.

4. 9:15 everyone is currently lingering in while I’m taking laps in this weightless wheelchair.Unlike most wheelchairs the wheels are positioned in a odd angle and the rim’s of the chair are covered in fiberglass so tennis balls won’t get wedge in between the tires

5. 9:38 we currently just picked 4 man teams.My team consists of Kelly,Gavin and Irwin. The ceiling lights are making the whole court hot and I’m actually already sweating.

6. 10:26 we just currently finished our first game and surprisingly we won by one point.

7. 10:45 I’m currently sitting in my wheelchair waiting to see who we play next. Im in amazement right now watching this match.These guys are awesome there moving super fast , hitting the ball at lightning speeds and quite frankly I’m getting a bit nervous. 

8. 11:14 It’s our semi final match and we’re still a bit tired from the first one. Kelly,Gavin and Irwin are all red and sweaty too I really wish this place was Air conditioned but we’re ready for this.

9. 12:03 Currently my gold team is undefeated this last match was a piece of cake my defense played a major part in the match .We had some great communication skills out there like a real team.Blue team tried there hardest to score but we locked in on defense Gavin scored 2 points for us and Kelly scored the game winner.She hit the tennis ball so hard one of the blue team members had to duck really fast.

10. 12:41 we’re ready for the championship this is literally harder than I ever expected.Initially before coming I didn’t think about the multi tasking of holding your tennis racket,while steering and hitting a tennis ball.But we’re all extremely exhausted but in good spirits having good vibes enjoying our time together.

1:33 WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS from the start the other team were hammering us but they couldn’t score. I scored my team first points and Irwin stole the show.He said he knew we had a good team so he wanted to save his energy for the last game.Irwin scored the remaining of team’s points in pretty nice fashion might I add he was all over the place saving the day.So we gave him the MVP trophy for being the most valuable player on offense and defense. 

      Overall my experience was a huge success.The fact we all embrace our Spinal cord injuries and the lifestyle of being quadriplegics was beyond awesome. Often times we’re are ridicule and criticize about the things we aren’t able to do.So I feel like this was definitely a great way to demonstrate to others outside of our community that despite our handicaps we are still outgoing and productive individuals like anyone else.Personally this experience was a eye opener for me and showed me that despite this unfortunate injury there are many people just like me who don’t allow negative situations to affect the long haul of our lives.Great experience.