This is my recap of the Helping Hands Foundation’s Winter Outing.  Read about Friday here.

Saturday arrived a bit early for my taste, but I got downstairs in time for breakfast and a couple of great speakers.

Nicole Kelly, Miss Iowa 2013, was first to take the stage and she owned it.  It was so cool to finally meet Nikki (I had interviewed her last year) and see her in action.  She was positive and encouraging and challenging, all at the same time.  It was fun to see all the kids lined-up to get pictures with her and to see her interacting with them all.  Nikki gives speeches all the time, but this was different than usual.  You could see her eyes twinkling as each little girl and boy came to her and showed her what made them different.  She made them each feel special.

Me and Nicole

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This is my recap of the Helping Hands Foundation’s 2014 Winter Outing. Read about Saturday here and Sunday here.

If there’s one thing I’ll remember about this year’s Helping Hands Foundation winter outing, it’s this:

Thank goodness nobody was recording me during my talent show performance.

For real, though, this year’s event was awesome; just like I expected it to be.  Those of us who attended were happy benefactors, basking in the leadership of amazing folks like Patti, Vennessa and Dayna.  Ok, enough wordplay.  The leadership of the HHF is incredible and they do such a fantastic job with the event.  Bravo to all who helped!

I’m going to write three posts, broken down as such: Friday, Saturday and Sunday/Travel Misadventures.

So…here’s Friday.

My experience this year started WAY better than last: I didn’t miss the bus!  I left my house at 345am, took a bus to Milwaukee at 430am, left for Boston (with a pit-stop in Cleveland) at 8am and arrived a bit after 1pm.  Long, but uneventful.  The plan was to meet-up with my good friend, Tony Memmel, and new friend, Nicole Kelly, at Logan Airport and head to the hotel together.  After wandering around for a while, I finally found Nicole and then Tony found us.  Our friend Annie picked us up and off we went! Continue Reading…

Last January I had the opportunity to attend the Helping Hands Foundation‘s Winter Event and, honestly, it affected me deeply. I smiled and laughed more times than I could count. I cried in front of a room full of strangers. I got to hear so many amazing stories and meet so many incredible people. And here’s the thing…I want to go back. I want to see my friends again. I want to meet Nicole Kelly and Rebekah Marine! And I want to bring my wife. I want her to experience this supportive and inspiring community for herself.

I stink at taking panoramic shots, but this gives you an idea of the awesome group of people at the event earlier this year.

The Rovedos! Cam was SO into this. And Cam has a little brother now! 🙂

That said, we need your help to get out there this coming January. So, what I’d like to do is a joint fundraiser.

I’m going to set the target at $1000. I’m not going to cap it there, but that’s the minimum I’d like to hit. The way it will work is, anything we raise above and beyond our costs will go directly to the Helping Hands Foundation. I LOVE them and believe in what they do.

Here’s how it’ll work:

For every $10 you give, your name will be entered into a drawing for one of these items:

Autographed Judith Caseley Book
Signed Nick Newell Picture
Signed Nikki Kelly Picture
Jim Abbott Autographed Baseball card

Also, for each of these levels you’ll get:

$10-$50 A personalized LOH postcard from me

$51-$100 A personalized LOH postcard and LOH sticker

$101+ A personalized LOH postcard, LOH sticker and LOH stress relief cube

Also, and this is the big one…if we raise $1000, I will write and perform an original song, while playing the piano, at the HHF talent show! Prepare to be amazed. Or something.

And listen, if you give $1000 yourself, I will write a song about whatever you want. Within reason. You have a cat you want a song written about? Done. A favorite pair of slacks? Done. Anyway…

Here are the logistics: Click on the Donate button below to donate. That’s it. And hey, if you want to donate but don’t want to be entered to win something, that’s totally great. Just let me know. I’ll keep the page updated to let you know where we are.

UPDATE: Currently at $725! (12/18/13)

Ok, so there it is. I only do this because you guys are so awesome and supportive. And because I believe so much in what Helping Hands does and has done for years and years. Thank you and let the fundraising begin!

That seems about right.

“Dreams don’t fade away as we get older; we exchange them for standards of living.” Ben Arment

Ben’s words on the first full day of Story Chicago rang true with me.  We all have dreams and we need to see them through.  We just do.  The Story Conference reminded me of that fact and helped reset my course to do so.

The conference started with an amazing art display.  “Make sure you’re in before 7 because they’re closing the doors and you don’t want to miss it!” I was told.  And they were right.  The creative team presented a visual and aural masterpiece.  Essentially, it was a thunderstorm inside.  And as I type that, I am fully aware I cannot do it justice with words.  The cool thing, though, was that there was an actual storm raging outside, too!  It really was an event that had to be experienced to be appreciated.

Then we got to view Blood Brother, a fantastic documentary about a guy who ends-up finding his place at an AIDS orphanage in India.  At turns funny, then poignant, then heartbreaking…Blood Brother will change you.

I’m not sure I knew who any of the speakers were this year before they spoke, but they added their own flavor.  It’s just so cool to hear other peoples’ creative process!  From the Global Director of Creative Outreach and Senior Writer for Nike, to the founder of Charity:Water, to the Director of Arts programs at Kickstarter, to the Chief Product Officer at Blurb.com, to a “mouth artist,” to the creative director at Cirque du Soleil Media, to the Creative Director at Google Labs…seriously, we as an audience might not have known who they were, but they are all amazing people doing incredible things who we have a lot to learn from.

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve gotten a card from my grandpa for my birthday.

Every year, usually the day before, the card would arrive.  A $10 bill tucked gently inside and the words, “Love you – Grandpa” scratched onto the card stock.  And right there next to him, since 1994, has been “Grandma Mary.”

Grandpa passed away in April, but Mary, God bless her, has carried on the tradition.  Today is my first birthday without grandpa here, but look what I got in the mail yesterday:

Tears

And here’s what you need to understand: They’ve never missed it.  Which is unbelievable because Grandpa had ten kids.  That means a lot of grandkids and great-grandkids and even a couple great-great-grandkids.  Even so, without fail, that card and $10 from grandpa and Mary would be in your mailbox right on-time.

I know it won’t go on forever, but it was nice to open the mailbox and see that card at least one more time.  It made me sad, because I miss my grandpa, but it also made me smile to know what an amazing woman he married after my grandma died.

So, thank you for the card, Grandma Mary, and the lovely reminder.

And I hope you’re having a great time in Heaven, grandpa.

I miss you.

The Story Conference 2013 is coming-up QUICKLY and, just like last year, I need your help!

Story is a conference for the creative class. A place to share ideas and encourage each other to tell even better stories with our lives. You can read all about my experience at last year’s event in a series of six posts, starting with this one.

It means a lot to me that so many of you have expressed interest in helping me experience Story again and I’m totally stoked about this year’s fundraiser!

Here’s the video version of what I’ve written below:

My friend Jim Abbott has provided TWO autographed baseballs for me to give to two lucky winners!  Here’s how it’ll work:

First, for every $10 donation, your name will be entered to win a baseball autographed by JIM ABBOTT!

The other big item I’m going to include in the raffle is this sweet LOH messenger bag! It’s a $50 value!

I also have some shirts, stickers and stress relief cubes if you’re interested!

The second ball will go to the highest bidder!  Send me your bid at ryan@livingonehanded.com and I’ll update this post as the bids come in.

Current High Bid: $200.00

The easiest way to donate is to click on the “Donate” button below. When you do, please indicate if you’re interested in either the ball or bag or both.

If you’d rather give by check or cash, that’s totally cool. Just email me!

In addition, every donor will receive an LOH thank you postcard from me!

Also, if you’re just super awesome and would like to give without being entered into the raffle, just let me know.  🙂

I’ll chose all three winners SATURDAY NIGHT at 10pm CST (9/14/13)!

Seriously, you guys are the best.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…you’re the reason I do this.

Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions!

Ryan

I knew Lady Gaga was polarizing, but…wow.

Today I posted this picture on the Living One-Handed Facebook page with the caption, “Lady Gaga holding a prosthetic arm. Discuss.”

Sweet shoes.

What happened next surprised me.

Let me first say that I’m a big fan of free speech.  Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion, just as I’m entitled to mine.  And here’s my opinion of this picture…those are some shoes right there, dawg.  And what is she so mad about?  And what’s with the arm?  That’s it.  Those are my thoughts.

Now, I have no particular interest in her, other than that my friend Jerrod is dating her (in his mind), so I just thought it was interesting.  I know she pushes the envelope and wears weird crap all the time and has a song called “Born This Way” which is NOT cool because that’s what I was going to title my memoir, but…I digress.  I figured people would have thoughts about the picture, so I posted it and…I was right.

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It’s been a confusing week, to be honest.

Every year, as far back as I can remember, we’ve gotten together as an extended family for Father’s Day.  With my grandfather’s passing in April, though, we’ve decided to spend it as individual families this year.  It made me really sad.  I’ll miss seeing my aunts and uncles and cousins.  I’ll miss seeing all the second cousins playing together.  I just love being with them.

Some of the grandkids and grandpa on Father’s Day 2011

But, it’s a painful time, which is why I understand the decision.  For all my aunts and uncles, it’s their first Father’s Day without their dad.  That’s huge.  It’s a year for us to miss grandpa and to focus on our own families; all the families he has directly affected.  In fact, earlier this week I was feeling sad, but wasn’t sure why.  Julie and the kids stopped by my work and the kids all ran to me and gave me a hug to cheer me up.  Claire asked why momma said I was sad and I told her I wasn’t sure, sometimes you just get sad.  “I bet I know why.  I think you’re sad because grandpa died,” she told me.  She was right.  My perceptive little princess.  Even now my heart is in my throat thinking about it.

Sam, me, grandpa and my dad, Father’s Day 2008, I think

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If you’re not a mom, this’ll probably be weird to read.  That said, if you have a mom or you know a mom, you should totally have them read this.

So, here’s the deal: Moms are awesome.

And let’s get this out of the way, too: My wife, mom, step-mom and mother-in-law are the best.

Ok, now let’s get to you.

You’re an awesome mom. I don’t care if you feel like you suck as a mom or not; you’re awesome. Do you yell at your kids sometimes? Do you park yourself on the couch and tell your kids it’s ok to watch Netflix for a couple hours sometimes? Do you wish your kids could spend the year at your parents’ sometimes? Do you read blogs and magazines and think to yourself, “I’M THE WORST MOTHER IN THE WORLD!” sometimes?

Sure. My understanding is that all mothers do this.

Well, except for the ones in the magazines.

I just want to tell you right now that feeling these things doesn’t make you suck as a mom. It makes you human. It makes you a woman who does more for her family than can be adequately quantified. You deal with more crap, literally and figuratively, than most men can comprehend.

Let’s be honest…you probably won’t receive as much recognition as you deserve today. In fact, you’re probably going to have to clean-up after your kids and husband who have made you breakfast. A breakfast you might enjoy half of, by the way. I actually just now asked my wife what she wants for breakfast. I figure it’s better she gets what she wants than me and the kids making a bunch of stuff she won’t like. Magical!

Anyway, that’s why I wanted to tell you you’re awesome. Hopefully your family will do something nice for you. You deserve it. I don’t even know you (probably) and I’m still confident in that fact. You’re doing your best. And even when you feel like you’re not doing your best, you want to be.

And here’s the truth:

You are enough. Will you keep growing and learning and gaining wisdom through experience? Of course. But right now, today, the woman you are is enough. Please take time to appreciate yourself. Take time today to remember what you love about your kids. Be proud of all you’ve accomplished so far and look forward to all that lies ahead. Treat yourself to something that will make you smile.

In the last year and a half I have come into contact with so many amazing mothers because of Living One-Handed. Mothers who share their struggles and successes in regards to raising kids who are different. I see mothers helping each other on a daily basis. It’s incredible. And you know what? None of them think they’re amazing. They’re just moms doing what moms do. Well, I have news for you…

You are amazing.

All of you.

Happy Mother’s day!

My mom on her birthday, 2013