Jeanine launched her new business venture this evening. The Earth Mama hosted a healthy cooking lesson for eleven participants who each left with a container of Jeanine’s Special Broth, seen simmering here, renewed appreciation for the dreaded pressure cooker, and new found love for Seaweed Salad. The event was a great success and Jeanine had that happy smile she gets when working with industrial size cooking vessels.
Alyson is so beautiful she literally stopped traffic (a true and funny story I will leave for her to tell).
This evening I did a photo shoot for Alyson. She is writing a book and may use some of the photos for her project.
Emmanuel who celebrates his 32nd birthday today joined Nico for practice and the interview. I loaned him a pair of my custom crutches that are sized for when Nicolai get’s older. Despite playing in a street shoe, Emmanuel showed he’s got game.
Nicolai and I were interviewed by the Fox Soccer Channel for a piece they are doing on Nicolai’s story. Nico was unusually brief with his comments and told me later that he is tired of doing interviews and was much more comfortable when they videotaped him during his soccer practice. He had some really nice headers which I hope they caught on tape. I will post air date when we receive the details. We learned that the fundraiser last night brought in another $21,000 in contributions raising his total to over $130,000.
Emmanuel presents Nicolai with the Ability Through Mobility Award. Nicolai was very thankful to be receiving his award from the man who inspired him and thanked everyone in a very heartfelt and well delivered speech.
Low light precluded a lot of photography during the banquet, but I took this photo to capture the mood.
My sister Alissa drove in from Albany, NY to join us in for the evening, a wonderful suprise that added to the magic of the evening.
This evening, Nicolai is being honored by the Free Wheelchair Mission for his fundraising efforts on their behalf. His total now stands at $110,000 which translates into 2500 wheelchairs for the disabled of Tanzania. The banquet is being held at the beautiful Fairmont Copley Hotel and we are treated to this vision of our boys looking quite dignified.
This afternoon, Mark and I drove with Kyle to Princeton, MA for his soccer match. I took portratis of all the boys and this team photo before the game started. Kyle has fully recovered from his bout with mono and was in fine form. His team was leading 2-0 at halftime when we had to leave in time to make Nicolai’s award ceremony. I had a slight muscle injury and decided to miss my game to avoid further aggravation but should return to action next weekend.
Emmanuel shares the story of his mother, the other source of his inspiration, with the congregation. When he was young, his mother carried Emmanuel on her back for the 6 mile round trip to school. When he became too heavy for her, he hopped the distance on one leg before he eventually got a pair of crutches. Try hopping one block and you will learn what indomitable spirit and unrelenting determination means. Emmanuel proudly showed off the high tech prosthetic he now wears and thanked his supporters in the US for their generosity.
This morning begins a big day for Nicolai. At church he joins Emmanuel Efosa Yeboah of Emmanuel’s Gift fame, in front of the congregation to discuss the importance of inspiration. Seeing Emmanuel’s movie inspired Nicolai to raise money to buy wheelchairs for the diabled poor of Tanzania. Emmanuel was inspired by disabled athlete Jim MacLaren who lost his leg in a horrific accident and went on to become a world class triathlete and to overcome even greater challenges. Follow this link to learn more about this amazing human being.
Mark has a serious tete-a-tete with his daughter about her eating manners.
Mark and Jeanine tag team to feed Rose who wound up with as much food on her face as in her mouth. Verify this claim by clicking on the photo for an enlarged view.