About this blog

A few years before I started this blog, I really wasn’t much of a blog reader or follower. And then one night when I couldn't sleep because of worry and sadness, I checked my email and received a link to a friend’s blog. To the right of the blog page, I noticed a list entitled, Blogs I Read. One blog in particular, Enjoying the Small Things, stood out because of its title. At the time, I was still very ill, working on recovery, and I was deeply struggling with enjoying the small things. I clicked on the link and was immediately struck by the immense beauty, wonder, and depth found in Kelle Hampton’s words. I connected to her life is what we make it attitude. I read her book and continued to read her blog. And after a year or so, I felt a quiet urge to start a blog of my own. I wanted to show that life, even after a life changing injury, can be exactly what we make it. Also, I learn quite a bit living in this new body. I not only want to share what I have learned, but I also want to pay forward what Kelle Hampton and her blog did for me. I felt so lost and hopeless, but somehow, her words lit a tiny flame of hope inside of me. 

For about a year, on my to-do list was an item that read, write thank you not to Kelle Hampton. I rehearsed the letter in my head for months. And then a friend’s son was paralyzed in a swimming accident and my quiet urge to start a blog of my own grew even louder. I also knew I needed to thank this person, Kelle, that changed my life with her little space of the Internet. 

I remember the very day I wrote to her. I sat down at my laptop and typed the letter, without a single do over. I didn’t edit it or change a sentence. I cried the entire time I wrote the letter to Kelle and wanted it to be as real and as raw as my heart. I hit the send button, remembered I forgot to include a picture, as she said she likes on her contact me page, and I sent the letter again with the picture. I closed the computer thinking she would never respond, especially after I sent the thing twice. 

My intention was never for Kelle to respond to my letter. My only intention was to thank her for breathing a bit of life back into my lifeless body. After pressing send on my email, I took my dog, Belle, for a walk and felt a huge sense of relief because I finally thanked this stranger that changed my life in so many ways. I returned from my walk, went about my daily routine, and saw I had an email in my inbox. I opened it and it was a thoughtful and heartwarming letter from Kelle. She shared so much of herself, even in that short note. Her generous heart and spirit is what encouraged me to start my own blog. She, once again, gave me the courage to pass on the light she bestowed on me. I owe quite a bit to Kelle. She gave me hope when it was just about gone. 

This little blog evolves over time, just as I do. My purpose is to be the light for another struggling person, just as Kelle was for me. I also want to portray an honest picture of struggle and the will it takes to live again. Paralysis is a lonely road, but it doesn’t have to be, as I have realized. We all share so much and are so much the same and I learn this again and again and again. We share similar wants and needs and our hearts and hopes are all the same, as are our moments of suffering. No one has all of the answers, but we do have the ability to lift each other up when we are down and be the lighthouse on a dark night. I want to create a community where everyone’s darkness is honored and through it we see the light that lives in all of us.

Please join me as I attempt to share in this community of wonder and hope.

Thank you for reading.

Sarah

This is the beginning of my story.