In this scene, Karen and Mama walk home. Karen reflects on her experience of being trampled, but rather than finding anger in her heart, she finds love, compassion, and the inspiration to share them. Most people do not think of…
In this scene, Karen and Mama walk home. Karen reflects on her experience of being trampled, but rather than finding anger in her heart, she finds love, compassion, and the inspiration to share them. Most people do not think of…
In this scene, the kids have just trampled over little Karen, but she stands up on her own and insists that she would rather endure a trampling than spend her days at home and in fear of life. Mama thinks…
Last month was National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month. I didn’t post about because I didn’t feel I had much new I could add to the conversation. I’d already written about my own struggles finding suitable employment, my battle with the…
In this scene, the race begins, Karen’s badly designed leg brace locks and throws her face down onto the playground asphalt. She struggles to regain her feet, but the stampeding children trample her. Close-up photo of asphalt courtesy of StockyPics,…
In this scene, Karen tries to wait patiently for the treasure hunt to start, and we learn a little about leg brace design and the assumptions that doctors and medical device designers made about children with cerebral palsy. The…
In April of this year, Wilbur Rowe Middle School in Milwaukie, Oregon, celebrated ability challenges and lifestyles. Here is the part of the message that Molly Burke, the school Success Coach, sent me via my Facebook page: Our students have…
In this scene from The Healing Horse, Karen and Mama go to the local elementary school treasure hunt. Karen hopes to find gold and jewels. Of course, she does not, but in an upcoming scene, she finds much more. The…
This scene, Karen has just returned from a triumphant day at Disneyland during which she received a prediction that someday she would become a leader and a dancer, and in her dreams that night she relives an earlier event…
In this scene, Mama reflects on the day and what it had taught her Karen, and on what her Karen had taught her. Perhaps her little girl would someday become a dancer. Now it was a dream, but it could…
In this scene, Karen and Mama discuss the day, and then Mama makes a surprising promise that foreshadows what will happen later in the book. Scene 5: A Mother’s Promise Karen climbed the steps to the front porch of the…