Johnny

I've written before about meeting Joni Ereckson Tada at a family retreat. Joni of course, is a Christian speaker and author with a successful radio program airing on many Christian radio stations. Joni is also a tireless advocate for people with disabilities. She is herself, a quadriplegic. In her case, it was a diving accident at the age of sixteen. I once received some stationary as a gift that had on it paintings that Joni had done. On the back of the box, was a small photo of the artist herself...leaning over a table with a paintbrush in her mouth...having created this absolutely gorgeous sunset! But I have to say, the thing that surprised me most about Joni...was her name. I thought it was "Joanie" and she just spelled it differently. But, it isn't...it's "Johnny" like Johnny Appleseed.

But this story is actually about a different Johnny. When I was eight years old, I saw a paralyzed person for the first time. I'd been invited to a friend's birthday party. I walked in the house and saw the backside of an electric wheel chair. The chair had a ventilator on the back with hoses attached. (Seems to me like there was more than one hose attached). The chair seemed gigantic, I saw the rubber handles on top with the ribbing, and up above that, was someone's head. From the back, he reminded me of what I would call a Jesus hippie: Long hair; brown, about shoulder length, and a bandanna tied around his forehead...it was navy. I saw from the back, where it was tied of course.

To me this was a lot of equipment I had never seen before...with someone's head at the top. I still remember the noise his ventilator made, as it inhaled and exhaled in and out. Sort of a motorized, computerized "push" of oxygen. Even though I knew I was seeing the back of a man, I remember asking

"What is that?"

THAT was my friend's uncle Johnny, WHO became one of the most memorable people I ever knew. Now, when I say my friend, I should clarify, her name is Elvia, and she is my friend for life. We began to get to know each other at about the age of five, and are still friends today. As kids, we spent countless weekends watching movies till late into the night, which brings me to the first thing I remember about Johnny...the VCR (remember those) was in his part of the house. There were three rooms that made up Johnny's main living space, his bedroom, his bathroom across the hall and the entryway between the two that allowed Johnny to go between these rooms, and also into the garrage. There was a wheel chair ramp that went from the back door, through the garrage. This led onto the driveway in the front yard. On sunny days, Johnny would often be waiting outside to see the school bus pull up and bring Elvia home. the main room was where the TV and VCR was. We'd sit up on Johnny's huge bed, it's metal sides moved out of the way, and just watch way too much TV...after we'd fixed whatever we wanted to eat of course. But on this first occasion we met, there was a birthday party... third and fourth grade girls playing party games, eating cake, playing music and just being kids...

Johnny, to me, quickly became like one of us, just playing a game: He would tell a joke, and then tell us where to hide...of course, then he would tell the one who was "it" where we were! And then, sometimes... (look out)...he would chase us in that chair! In the front, Johnny had a device that let him move his chair with his mouth. A grey, sort of "control switch" was attached to a metal bar that brought it to his lips. Being a quadriplegic, Johnny did everything with his lips including smile and tell jokes. He had one of the most distinctive smiles I've ever seen on anyone. His eyes seemed to light up so brightly.