Happy Rebirth Day; A matter of attitude

Okay, I’ve already acknowledged today’s date in my first post. For anybody who doesn’t know me, today is personally significant to me. It was this date, 15 years ago, that changed my life forever. It is the reason I’m writing this blog today. It is the day I was involved in an auto accident that blinded me and caused a ripple of events in my life that changed the way I do so many things.

Today is also the day I mark as my rebirth day. I was reborn that day in almost every aspect, short of a trip down the birth canal. I had to learn to walk and talk again after a two-month coma. I had to learn how to eat again, only this time I couldn’t look at my food as I got it onto the fork or spoon—a real feat when eating jello for the first time! I also had the chance to rethink my education and career choices. It was a freedom to start all over again and that is how I saw the events in my life, a real opportunity.

I truly believe it is that attitude of seeing that change in my life as an opportunity, not a curse, that has led me to find the level of fulfillment and success in life that I have. I’ve had many academic and personal achievements, but the best thing I’ve done is to find my wife of almost ten years as the result of that fateful day.

I am very happily married to a darling woman and we have the best 6-year-old son anybody could hope to have. I might add that I never would have met my wife if I hadn’t been through the changes of 15 years ago. I was speaking at a youth conference and talking about making good choices following my accident, and she came up to me afterward to follow up on something I had said about learning how to cook while blind. She is a high school Foods teacher and had a 10th grade student who was blind and wanting to learn how to cook. On that day, more than 11 years ago, we began a strong friendship that is the foundation for our marriage today.

The day of my accident, October 9, 1993, isn’t only significant to me. It was also the same day that
Marcus Engel,
A young Missouri man in his first semester of college,was also involved in an auto accident. Marcus went through more surgeries in the next year and a half, most of these above the neck, repairing the effects of a drunk driver when he struck the vehicle Marcus was traveling in.

No matter how good those surgeons were, though, they couldn’t save Marcus’ sight. Yes, that’s correct…he was blinded in an auto accident on the very same night I was. We were in accidents separated by a couple of states and about three hours, but our fates were joined on that same date.

And, continuing down that idea of fated pathways, we met about a year and a half later, when we were both at
The Seeing Eye,
In Morristown, New Jersey, getting our first guide dogs together.

We became friends and created a bond there that has kept us in touch with each other in many ways since then and I continue to count Marcus as a good friend. We have both also progressed a long way from those early days of adjusting to the blindness and the changes in our lives. We are both now married and have created well-balanced lives that I don’t think either of us could have ever foreseen 15 years ago.

In my life before that auto accident, back when I was a Texas prison supervisor, I used to tell my staff at shift briefing that the quality of their day will very likely be the result of their individual attitude. I believed that statement then, and believe it even more so today. Life really is all about attitude.

I don’t know what your plans for today are, but I will go out with my wife and son this evening and celebrate today. For me, it is special, but, then again, that is just my attitude.

Second part of Marcus Engel interview is now posted

Okay, so you went to the
Disability 411
Site a couple of weeks ago and downloaded the interview I did with
Marcus Engel,
Or at least downloaded the transcript to see what Marcus is all about. Then, you felt like you were left hanging on a cliff because it suddenly ended, all due to the interviewer, namely me, running long on the interview.

Never fear. Beth Case has been busily working and you can now go to the
Disability 411
Site and get the second part of that interview.

Now that you see how easy it is to conduct and submit an interview or product review, why don’t you take Beth up on her offer and submit one to Disability 411 yourself. I think she would appreciate a variety of topics and is giving a lot of latitude for submissions. Besides, it is your shot at getting your moment in the sun. And, who knows, you might tap into an interest that you didn’t know you were good at until you did that submission.

Interview with Marcus Engel

As hoped, I have an announcement to make.

My interview with Marcus Engel is now posted on the
Disability 411 blog.

Well, sort of. The interviewer got a little chatty and the interview ran long, so Show 38 is the first half of my interview with Marcus, a dynamic and interesting professional speaker and author.

So, what are you doing reading this? Go on over and check out Beth Case’s blog and download the interview. Also, make sure to come back to her site later for part 2!

Interview submitted to Disability 411

I spent Friday morning conducting an interview for submission to the
Disability 411 podcast.
Beth had recently sent out a call for guest submissions to help her manage recent time crunches on Disability 411. With that opening, I figured I’d take my first crack at the world of podcasting and called up a good friend,
Marcus Engel,
To be the interviewee for my freshman introduction.

I have known Marcus for twelve years and find him to be an interesting and fascinating man. He is a 31-year old professional speaker and author of two books. He was blinded at age 18 in 1993 as the result of an auto accident when the car he was riding in was hit by a drunk driver. After more than 300 hours of surgery, most of it above the neck, Mark redirected his life with a positive attitude and a personal motivation for success.

I don’t know if Beth will select this interview for inclusion in her podcast, but I certainly hope she will. Granted the interviewer sort of stumbles a bit in his questioning, but give him a break. It is his first podcast effort. As for Marcus, his replies are interesting and thought provoking.

Whether she uses the interview in her podcast or not, Marcus is donating signed copies of both his books for Beth to give away to listeners of Disability 411. He is also offering a computer file of his manuscripts to those with a disability that keeps them from reading printed material. They can get this by simply emailing him through his website. Now, that’s accessibility!

To learn more about Marcus, click the link above for his official home page. On that site, you can also subscribe to the monthly newsletter that he writes. As if the speaking schedule, book and newsletter writing weren’t enough, Marcus also writes
Engel’s Ensights,
His personal blog with updates on a regular basis.