First Power Soccer Championship

In October, there was a special soccer championship. The game was between United States and France. It was the first ever Power Soccer World Cup held in Tokyo, Japan.

What is Power Soccer? It's soccer played in power wheelchairs. These are easy athletes, but all are disabled. All are wheelchair-bound.

The sport first started in France. It has yet to gain recognition as wheelchair sport. Who knows how many people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities will find inspiration just from this tournament?

Co-workers Become Mother and Son

For months, Steve Flaig often greeted Christine Tallady at work. What a shock it was to find out Tallady was his birth mother.

The 22 your old always knew he was adopted. Early in his life, he wanted to find his first mother. When he turned 18, he gained access to his adoption records. Four years of searching brought them to the realization that he was spelling his birth mother sore name wrong. He began his search over.

When he corrected the error, he found a possibility living near where he worked. He couldn't believe it when he found out that they both work for Lowe's. He knew who she was, but took two months to get the nerve to approach her. He went to the adoption agency with his find. Employee made the call for him.

He has since sat down with his birth mother -- a conversation went on for 2 1/2 hours. The reunion continues each time they see each other at work.

Chris Haley Carries the Torch for Uncle Alex

Alex Haley wrote a wonderful book Roots. It was probably the reason why many people began their family tree research. Although Haley has passed away, his research lives on in his nephew, Chris Haley.

Haley is 40 years old. He's the research director of the Legacy of Slavery Project worked works out of the Maryland State Archives. Haley decided to take a DNA test to see what else he can learn about his heritage be gone what his uncle had found out. The test confirmed that he had white heritage.

This is opened a whole new research avenue for the Haley family tree. He the plans to find out as much as possible about his new ancestry. With Uncle Alex only working on one branch of the family tree, Chris has a lot to discover.

Whole Foods Gives Away Food for Free

On December 13 the computers crashed at the Whole Foods Market in West Hartford, Connecticut. The managers had to decide what to do. There were many customers in line a more milling around the store.

Assistant manager, Ted Donaghue, conferred with the other managers. They decided to give all customers their food for free while the computers were down. They lost about $4000 during that period, but it has probably earned them a whole lot of satisfied customers.

Manager, Kimberley Hall, took responsibility for the problem. She sought as Whole Foods mistake and decided not to make it a hassle for the customers.

Dog Maul Victim Turns 17

In June of 2001, Shawn Jones was 10 years old. One day while riding his bike, he was attacked by three pit bulls.

He had the fight of his lying on the operating table. Doctors repaired damage to his head and upper body. Then he spent 11 months in the hospital and went through multiple reconstructive surgeries. After he was released, he had to go through intensive rehabilitation.

Jones faced emotional trauma as well as physical pain. His mother was unemployed and had trouble dealing with stress. Because of this she gave up custody and Jones went to live with an aunt.

His mother regretted her choice especially after she found out that her son had been sent to a boarding school in New York. She went to court and regain custody.

Today Jones is 17. He attends Mt. Diablo high school and lives in Concord, California. He is a brother and cousin also going to the same school. He plays football and wrestling. He has a 3.5 grade-point average.

Because Jones has had to struggle through his experience, he is become a mentor to other children who of the mauled. He talks to them at the same hospital that saved his life.

This quote from his coach, Tony Darone, sums up Jones's attitude:

"Athletically, he's really just like any other player. There's lot of fighting him, and he works hard. He doesn't feel sorry for yourself for what happened to him. He doesn't want to be catered to, he wants to be treated just like anybody else, and that's what we do.

Twins Reunited

In the 1960s, a psychological study was undertaken on twins to determine the affects of nature versus nurture. Not much is known about the study except that the twins were separated as babies and that separation was permanent.

One set of twins from the experiment were reunited in 2007. Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein had not seen each other since they were babies. They were adopted by different couples and raised in different communities.

30 years later, Elyse decided to find her birth mother. Instead, she found a twin sister. The twins have written a book about the experience. They are also working to find out how their separation came about.

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish all my readers a Happy 2008! May it be a prosperous, enjoyable year filled will whatever you want it to be.

I have to apologize for the lack of posts at the end of the year. I had so many things to do with the holidays that I didn't take time out for other things. It's difficult to juggle time and abilities when you live with a disability.

At any rate, I already have several posts in the works and hope to be blogging away very soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!