corn hole

Blurb: How a simple game became a symbol of my life...

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed attending the Hattie Larlham
Foundation volunteer appreciation dinner. They offered good food
and dessert, hanging out with old friends and meeting new people,
Spring decorations and favors and the chance to play some games.
Games? Bah! Humbug! I'm a 39 year old deaf-blind lady who can
barely walk. I don't do games.

So, I'm sitting at our table with another disabled volunteer,
chatting up a storm while making everyone laugh. My escort turns
to me and says, "Hey, they have corn hole."

I'm thinking, "Whatever."

Jane asks, "Have you ever played corn hole before?"

"Nope," I tell her, "I don't even know what it is."

I can imagine her grin as she signs "C'mon... C'mon" into my
hands.

Jane shows me these bean bag like things and a board with a hole
in the middle. That's easy enough to figure out. She gets me a
chair and tells me to aim "far ahead."

"Wait a minute," I yap. "Don't blind girls get to sit up front?"

Apparently not. So I toss while Jane gives me feedback.
"Farther... farther... more to the right... farther... to the
left... farther."

I begin to think the target must be in Canada. And I toss and I
toss and I toss.

Those stubborn Angie genes kick in. I can't stop. I have to
succeed just once. I have to do it, because that's what I do...
Never give up... Keep on trying until that feisty determination
pays off.

I'm deaf (miss)
I'm blind (miss)
I'm physically challenged (miss)
I'm a mother (miss)
I'm a student (miss)
I'm a writer (miss)
I'm a leader (miss)
I'm a volunteer (miss)
I live on my own (miss)
I love my kitten (miss)
I don't listen to people who say I can't (miss)
I rule my life, not my disabilities (miss)
I WILL NOT GIVE UP -- It's a hit and the crowd goes wild!!

I pump my arm in victory. I yell, "Yes!" I laugh with glee. And I
check off another box on that long list of things I have
accomplished against all odds.