I just began thinking about PIF, and why I am so grateful that there is a group like this on here. Then I got to thinking about why I am in it , what causes me to want to share and help where I can. Truth is, I am a jerk. I really am, to the majority of people in real life. I don't like very many folks but those I do like I cherish tremendously. I try to help where I can but frustration leads to isolation so I stop helping when the help isn't appreciated.
So during this introspection I drifted back to a memory I have had for many years. Jr. high, there was a young man in my grade, and yes he was a man at that time though not by his age, who had muscular dystrophy. His name is Stephen. Stephen had to use a wheelchair however it was mechanical and he needed someone to assist him to go from his classes. He and I had a class together and I would take him from one class to our classroom, then from there to his next one. I loved it. He and I joked, when we were late I would announce to the class and the teacher it was because to many girls were gathered around him, he would laugh as would the rest of the class. I would threaten ANYONE, who interfered with our voyage in the halls, and almost got into many fights over it. It felt good and right to help Stephen out.
The next year I went to a different school and didn't see Stephen again until our 11th grade year. He had an upgrade and now used his electric wheel chair to transport himself around. His younger brother who was in 9th grade used one as well, yes he had md too.
Our senior year, it was December 1988, Tommy, his 16 year old younger brother, to whom Stephen was very close to, died. Being a fairly small community we were all shook up. Not nearly as much so as 1 1/2 months later when Stephen passed away. I regretted not spending as much time as I should have with Stephen. He was and is and always will be an inspiration to me.
Bottom line is, I took a little bit of time, a small amount of effort, in order to help someone else out. And for that I was blessed by gifts that will last me all my days. The memories, that always bring a smile, sometimes mixed with tears. The reality, that when I am complaining about some trivial instance in my life, I can reflect back on a man on a few wheels and how hard he had it. And yet I never heard him complain, and he always had a smile. So thank you to the folks here at PIF, but most importantly thank you Stephen, you are one of the best things that ever happened to me.
So during this introspection I drifted back to a memory I have had for many years. Jr. high, there was a young man in my grade, and yes he was a man at that time though not by his age, who had muscular dystrophy. His name is Stephen. Stephen had to use a wheelchair however it was mechanical and he needed someone to assist him to go from his classes. He and I had a class together and I would take him from one class to our classroom, then from there to his next one. I loved it. He and I joked, when we were late I would announce to the class and the teacher it was because to many girls were gathered around him, he would laugh as would the rest of the class. I would threaten ANYONE, who interfered with our voyage in the halls, and almost got into many fights over it. It felt good and right to help Stephen out.
The next year I went to a different school and didn't see Stephen again until our 11th grade year. He had an upgrade and now used his electric wheel chair to transport himself around. His younger brother who was in 9th grade used one as well, yes he had md too.
Our senior year, it was December 1988, Tommy, his 16 year old younger brother, to whom Stephen was very close to, died. Being a fairly small community we were all shook up. Not nearly as much so as 1 1/2 months later when Stephen passed away. I regretted not spending as much time as I should have with Stephen. He was and is and always will be an inspiration to me.
Bottom line is, I took a little bit of time, a small amount of effort, in order to help someone else out. And for that I was blessed by gifts that will last me all my days. The memories, that always bring a smile, sometimes mixed with tears. The reality, that when I am complaining about some trivial instance in my life, I can reflect back on a man on a few wheels and how hard he had it. And yet I never heard him complain, and he always had a smile. So thank you to the folks here at PIF, but most importantly thank you Stephen, you are one of the best things that ever happened to me.
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. I think most of us on here recognize the joys we get when we help someone else, no one here is forced to do it, I have and I guess everyone here has, given stuff with the only expectation of a return is a thank you. But somewhere inside us we glow when we get a note back that "This is exactly what I was looking for" or "The best 
