A new heroine appeared on the scene on Tuesday, September 11^th on the new television show called Katie and stars Katie Couric as the moderator or the in charge person of it. She featured a young twenty-four year old woman named Aimee Copeland from Snellville, Georgia. A few months ago, she went zip lining with friends and the line snapped and she fell into contaminated waters below. She got a terrible disease from the infected waters and she almost died. She survived and had to have amputated both of her hands, both feet and entire right leg.

She walked across the stage of the Couric show with a walker and a new prosthetic leg. She is an amazing person and says she does not want to be called disabled. Instead of saying I’m disabled, she says “I have a different set of abilities.” She says “others every day have struggles.”

She smiles and is a darling and charming young woman. At the end of the show, a car dealer gave her a new van and will adjust the controls to her needs and install any new controls she needs and therefore she will be able to drive it. She was overwhelmed with the gift and during the whole show, the audience was in tears most of the time due to her spirit, her ambition and her desire to try and live life because she said life is good.

What an extraordinary person she is. She accepts what happened to her and strives to continue on when it was not thought she would live at all. Her loving mom, dad and sister and a boyfriend too have encouraged this young woman to go forward and this she has accomplished in a short few five months.

She still loves life and the life she is going to have.

Thank God, none of us have to ever, hopefully, never have to face even half of this tragedy. I had a cousin who got Polio, a terrible crippling disease in the 1940’s. Her grandmother who was my Mom’s aunt, by marriage, went to the grave of her own Mom to pray for this child’s recovery and not to be crippled or to have to wear leg braces. Somehow, this turned out to be a miracle and the child recovered and was not handicapped at all. Many at that time, said the Grandmother Ethel had saved her granddaughter.

The family of Aimee prayed and with the help of competent medical people and accommodations of new equipment is and will help Aimee to live as normal a life as she can.

Mom use to type envelopes for an advertising company and some of their clients were disabled veterans from World War II and the ads put in them were from prosthetic companies trying to sell their wares to the veterans.

Mom brought home some of the ads and it was difficult for a ten year old to look at and to understand. The prosthetics have changed since those years and Aimee was wearing, I guess a new version of one of them. She moved about with grace and a smile on her pretty face and she beamed being there before an audience that was touched and moved by her courageous attitude. She still thinks life is good and she is happy to be alive.

She is an outstanding example of people with real courage and the whole audience will follow her advancing days and years as she progresses even more. She hopes to finish obtaining her master’s degree and to work at it.

She is a fine example of a person who has taken the horrible consequence of a supposed to be pleasurable and fun adventure that day, doing zip lining.

Some may say she was foolish to try it, others say she is so brave in her quest for a still good life and all who saw her, know she will obtain it.

I have talked before about my blind uncle who himself was brave in accepting his being born blind and made a remarkable life and an almost normal life even though his eyes were closed and when they were opened and fluttered, he saw nothing.

He had a sister Ruth who also was blind. She was a singer, a wife, an aunt to many nephews and nieces, a knitter who knitted without sight, the most gorgeous dresses for herself, an administrative worker in a big company and a gourmet cook. When Mom and I saw her at the stove when we visited, we almost collapsed with worry. She cooked a delicious meal for us and we were overwhelmed with the food and the chocolate mousse cake, which was her specialty.

It seems from these people who have handicaps, that they somehow are filled with such spirit and ambition that they succeed and become outstanding folks and as Aimee said she is not disabled, she is “using a different set of abilities.” What a marvelous saying that is and all of us who are getting older and often feel we cannot do the same things, we did before we got aged, we can remember her words.

We are a using different set of abilities and we find that they are there for us and we are there for them.

It is a good way to guide our life, as we go about finding all we can do with them.

There is a saying I saw online. “Dream big, say please and thank you and try your best to be grateful, choose to be happy, smile and hug often.”

Aimee Copeland is grateful to be alive, she is choosing to be happy and smiles that beautiful smile gracefully. We should all emulate her spirit, bravery and love.