Things have a way of creeping up on me. If you’ve read my stuff before you remember me talking about how I found this Victor Borge CD Cover in my papaw’s old stereo system case and after I found out who he was, he was later brought up again when my nana and I were sorting through VCR tapes. Well, I’ve got a similar story to share with you. Back in January, I was on YouTube watching videos and everybody, including myself, hates waiting for the videos to load and we definitely hate the ads that are constantly on there as well. That afternoon when I was waiting for my video to load this very interesting commercial popped up on the screen. For once I actually turned off my music and didn’t even consider pushing the “Skip this ad” button either. The commercial was of P&G: Thank You, Mom and it was about the paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy. This was my first introduction to this interesting and inspiring woman. She and her mom, talk about how she was infected and how she lost her legs in the process and how all she wanted to do was go back to snowboarding.
When I first watched it, I kind of teared up a bit because it was so inspiring to hear of her story. I didn’t quite understand why I had decided to watch it. I’m usually not interested in watching those types of commercials, because I usually do my ugly cry and thankfully I didn’t. Sometimes I don’t feel a connection to disabled athletes because I was never one in school (Powder Puff Football doesn’t count) and watching everybody play sports including family members hardly had impact on me. When Dancing With The Stars cast was revealed last month. She was in Sochi, Russia competing in the Paralympic Games (which she ended up taking home a bronze medal) during the first couple of weeks of learning her steps for DWTS and her dance partner Derek Hough was right there with her, learning all about her and watching her snowboard down those giant hills! Before the first episode of the new season had aired she had a LONG schedule. She won her medal that Friday before, got on a plane, got home on Sunday and did camera blocking and costume fitting and on Monday had her first run on the dance floor in front of all America to see. If I thought the commercial inspired me, her dancing, sure made me have some hope inside of me that I hadn’t had before. When you watch shows like this, it inspires you to do the same or something similar and for me, I’ve always loved dance. From ballet to hip hop and then the Viennese waltz to the Paso. Just one little problem, I don’t have the ability to stand on my feet and my electric wheelchair doesn’t move as well as a push wheelchair either!
I’m pretty sure everybody can agree when I say this, that when it was revealed that she was to be on the show. The first thought was, oh my god! I hope her feet don’t go flying across the room! During Monday night’s episode, that was one of the worries of their dance. They were doing Swing dancing and I thought that was pretty cool! However, I was concerned about how she would be able to do that, because before watching her dance, I didn’t even know that her prosthetic legs could bend at the knee. So when she started moving her legs all around I was impressed! And thankfully that her legs didn’t go flying off and hit Bruno in the face! It’s a very strange feeling to find a sense of inspiration from somebody who can walk like a normal person but has prosthetic legs too. If we weren’t told that she was missing her legs, we wouldn’t wonder about her legs and it would just be about her dancing completely. However, I like the fact we know because she is inspiration to not only myself but others as well. I have always watched DWTS Monday night and after the show was over, dream about one of the male pro dancers teaching me to dance and before, it just made me sad. Now I’m happy that it actually leaves me with a smile because if a woman like Amy could do it, why should I feel ashamed being able to move my hips around in the comfort of my own room. She and Derek were safe from elimination this week. They haven’t announced what they’ll be dancing next week, but I’m excited to see it and I’ll be ready to vote like always!
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