I am Hannah. I live in Largo, Florida with my awesome husband, Irwin, and my youngest sister, Rachel, who has always been my hero. Rachel has always done everything she said she was going to do since we were children. When we were in our late teens she said she wanted to go to Israel (during the six day war) and she did. She worked on Kibbutzim for several years and then she attended the Hebrew University. When we were kids she said she wanted to work with the American Indians when she grew up and she did - she was the Diabetic Nurse Educator for all of the Indian Tribes in Northern California. Then this international educational company in Minnesota heard about her and they hired her and sent her all over the world to speak and teach about Diabetes. She is one of the authors of a recent book on juvenile diabetes. She was finishing her Doctorate in Public Health at the University of Minnesota when she suffered a brain injury and now she lives with Irwin and me. Hopefully the Psychologist and his peers wil be able to retrain her brain and bypass the damaged area.
Irwin and Rachel and I plan to watch all of the Summer Olympics that we can see on television. Irwin was a competitive swimmer in high school and college and he is an avid fan of the swimming competition. Rachel is a black belt in Aikido so she watches as much of the tumbling and wrestling that she can and I am a fan of the fencing competition. We have a friend in Atlanta - Joe - who is confined to a wheelchair due to a spinal anomaly that did not present itself until Joe was in his thirties.
He developed a hemorrhage in his spinal column and lost the use of his legs. That did not stop him. He was married at the time he became ill and was supporting his wife and stepson nicely. He continued to do so with remarkable strength and tenacity. He also became involved in wheelchair fencing and was the American gold medalist in that sport when the Olympics were held in Atlanta. He competed in the ParaOlympics in Atlanta immediately following the Atlanta Olympics representing the United States in fencing. My heart still flutters when I think of watching him fence and fight with all his might to honorably represent the United States. It is awesome to see the U.S. compete and win in any Olympics but when the competitor is a personal friend and you know how hard they work to be there and to win it has SO much more meaning it creates a forever Olympic moment and memory.