I generally do not watch football. I am a hockey and curling girl. Super
Bowl was always a good excuse for me to lock myself underground (aka the
basement sewing room) and tune out the football mania. I'd put my headphones on,
and sew away.
This Super Bowl is different. This Super Bowl became
almost a cause for me. First of all it is in the neighborhood. Well,
technically, it is in New Jersey, but really it is in New York. It is right
across the river. Sorry my New Jersey friends, but we all live in the shadow of
the Big Apple. I hear some of you are ticked off by all the celebrations in the
city, like that one in the Times Square, but that's what happens when your town
happens to be in the suburbia of the tristate metropolis. We all have to live
with it.
Second of all, the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl this year. For
my uninitiated friends, they are a team from Seattle, and since we are from the
west coast, more precisely the Pacific North West, it is a must to support the
local team. Yes, I am a Canadian from Vancouver Island, but that is what good
neighbors do. We support each other. Seattle is just a short ferry ride away. I
just wish Seattle had an NHL hockey team so the Vancouver Cunucks can have a play date every
now and then.
All this aside, the real reason I will be glued to the TV
this Sunday is a true role model Derrick Coleman, Seattle Seahawks hearing impaired
fullback and hell of a good player. In now famous commercial for Duracell
batteries Coleman says: “They told me it couldn’t be done, that I was a lost
cause. I was picked on and picked last. Coaches didn’t know how to talk to me.
They gave up on me. Told me I should just quit. They didn’t call my name. Told
me it was over. But I’ve been deaf since I was 3, so I didn’t
listen.”
For all of us who have been touched by hearing loss which, by
the way runs in my family, or any other disability we know what he is talking
about. So, my happy and (un)impaired friends, do not say the words "I cannot do
it" lightly. Yes, yes you can! I know you can. All you have to do is work hard.
If you fail, try harder. Humans are a fickle bunch. We do not appreciate
anything that we did not work hard to get. So work hard, the victory is going to
be so much sweeter. Do not get complacent, and lazy, and try to take the path of
least resistance. This is why Derrick Coleman is a true role model. He did not give
up, he did not take the easy way out. He did not surrender.
My son had a
very, very mild hearing loss. The kind that can be detected only by a watchful
parent who knows what to look for and a specialist. He does not hear certain
frequencies and it might correct itself as he grows, but he is not waiting for
that to happen. I don't think he is even aware of it. He plays cello. He is
very lucky that we caught it on time.
My daughter takes dance lessons in
Chorus Line Dance Studio. Every year they have a gigantic, mind blowing, recital
in the Patchogue theatre. I have been going to these exceptional performances
for the past four years, and there has never, ever been a dry eye in the
audience by the time the recital has finished. A staff member, who is also a
daughter of the studio owner, is hearing impaired. Every year she dances on the
stage with ALL the students incorporating the sign language with the dance
moves. Sign language interpreter is also on the stage for the performance and
the benefit of the audience. It is simply spectacular. First time I had the
pleasure to see it, when my daughter was only 4 years old, it confirmed what I
already knew - we found the dance school that we are going to stick with. Superb
quality of instruction on the side, the school is inclusive of everybody, all
shapes and sizes and levels of talent have their place in the school, and
everybody is a star. Hats down in respect to all the mothers, especially the
ones like Mrs. Coleman and the dance studio owner, and my friend Aisha whose son is the rising star of Italian rugby.
Speaking of mothers
and crossing all the obstacles in your way, lets not forget Leigh Anne, adoptive
mother of Michael Jerome Oher, offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. To my
quilting friends who know nothing about football you did watch Blind Sided
starring Sandra Bullock. Well Blind Sided is a true story of a phoenix, Michael
Oher, rising from his ashes, all through hard work, support of his family and
willingness of people to take a chance on him from the pure goodness of their
heart. I still chuckle on the scene from the movie, when dainty Sandra Bullock
playing Leigh Anne is protecting her son and is facing a dangerous local gang
member and says: "If you so much as set foot downtown, you will be sorry. I'm in
a prayer group with the D.A., I'm a member of the NRA and I'm always
packing."
Now you are asking yourself, what the heck does this post have
to do with quilting and Tasha's Patchwork. Nothing and everything. We all have
our struggles and crosses to bear. I am all about tearing down all obstacles and barriers in
my way. The bigger the obstacle the harder I try. If I cannot go over the wall,
I will go through the wall. From a war torn Bosnia, penniless and hungry (and I
do not mean to sound pathetic here, I was luckier than most), I made my way to
where I am now. It is a personal success. People helped along the way, just like
Coleman's coach and his team mates, but it was a very steep climb with multiple
curveballs thrown in my way. So, again, I am starting from the scratch. I am
starting a business that relies on disposable income in the economic climate
where many businesses are shutting down. I must be either stupid, or crazy, or
insanely driven individual. I have $0 budget. I am a non-resident alien not
allowed to work. What I do have is a small amount of talent, huge amount of
willpower, and the most important of all, I have support of my family and
friends.
So, let me drop this overly serious and dramatic rambling, and
say - GO Seahawks! Go Derrick Coleman! We at Tasha's Patchwork will be cheering
for you.