Keeping Up With Jimmy: Inspired

Robbin: This has to be my favorite post (so far) from Kristi. Read on and you will know why.

Hello Hello all!!! It has been some time since I have seen you all! We are finally thawing out from the cold snowy winter here in Connecticut and I cannot tell you how happy I am. This blog is going to be a little different than the usual keeping up with Jimmy; I would like to share some news with you, nothing bad so don’t worry. Just a little journey I went on. About a month or so ago I was filling out some so paper work for Jimmy to be able to go to a couple camps with Perkins Outreach program up in Watertown, MA. On the back of one of the programs was a quote… “Just because you can’t see the stars, doesn’t mean you can’t reach for them.” (At the time I had no idea that Helen Keller spoke these beautiful words and actually didn’t learn she did until after I got the tattoo) I read it and all I could think about was how accurate it was for our household. Everyday Jimmy proves to me that he reaches for those stars and makes me so proud and honored and grateful that I get to call him my son! These words to me personifies just what Jimmy does each and every day. He does not let his blindness get him down. He just goes out there and tries anything asked and not asked of him (he is my daredevil after all). These words that were spoken by Ms. Keller is what I hope everyone, blind or not blind, can hear and take to heart. To overcome any odds in their way and prove to everyone that you can accomplish anything you put your heart and mind to. So obviously I was so obsessed with this quote that I was telling it to anyone who would listen to me. (Actually I was even telling people who didn’t want to listen to me too) anyways I decided that I was going to do something that I had not done for 10+ years and that was get a new tattoo, and that tattoo was going to be this quote.

The plan was to get it done it some fancy print on my forearm. Then one night as I was sitting in my room thinking about it, I had what I like to call a 'brain fart', I decided that not only was I going to get these words tattooed on me but the font I would chose would be BRAILLE!!!! I got so excited that I wanted to do it all myself that I started looking up websites to find contracted braille so it would be spelt out correctly and everything. I finally found one got my contractions and went into Jimmy’s room and Brailled it out myself. Of course I had Jimmy check it to make sure I did it right, and I really thought I nailed it this time…nope, not this time. I give Jimmy my paper and he turns to me and goes “you did really good mom but you missed the “ea” contraction. (Darn that “ea” contraction) but that was the only one I missed so I was actually really excited! When Jimmy asked me why I did that I told him, “well bud I did it for you” he was very confused by this statement. I went on to explain to him that I was going to tattoo the quote in braille on my arm. At first he was a little like ooookkkk, not really believing me. But afterward I went and had it done, he told me that he thought my new tattoo was “Crazy Awesome”. I know people are going to ask me “why did you have them do it in braille? No one is going to understand it. To which I will reply, those who have been affected with blindness will get it, and I did it in braille to pay homage to all the people in the world who are blind including my son. To let the world see that I have been touched by blindness and am not ashamed of it. Instead it is a part of my life, and I want to honor it. This may not have been the life I would have chosen for myself or my son, but it is the one we have so I am going to enjoy the ride and be proud to say yes I know “some” braille (I am telling you it is the hardest thing to learn by sight) and I am proud to know it! Yes our kids are “different” but that doesn’t mean they are going to have any less of a life than anyone else on this planet!  I hope you all like it!! See you again soon!