I am notoriously useless about keeping up with things like prompts, but Colleen at Silver Threading, offered a theme this week that was just too appropriate to ignore. New beginnings.
You might… just possibly… have noticed that my son is riding in the very first Para-Tri triathlon this weekend… the first such event in the UK where able-bodied and disabled competitors race side by side. You may even have noticed the brand new trike he has been riding for the past four weeks… And if you have been following his story you will have gathered that for years he was unable to go anywhere alone, without having someone behind him to push the wheelchair.
For the past year he has had an electric wheelchair that gave him a taste of freedom, but the battery range is limited, it can’t cope with rough ground very well and, as Nick says, it isn’t much fun just sitting still and being unable to do anything. There was no incentive to go out.
In the past four weeks Nick has barely been in, covering some 250 miles around the villages and the town. He has loved being able to pull over in the middle of nowhere and simply enjoy the peace and beauty of solitude in the green landscape. He has, though he may murder me for saying so, even spent a fair amount of time talking to cows. Quite where he gets this habit from of talking to strange animals, I do not have the faintest idea…
… though I am reliably informed I was talking to the adder we saw recently…
… and then there was the llama in the middle of the North Yorkshire moors…
But I digress…
For Nick, a new beginning started with the blackest tragedy, an ending of one life that left him dying in a Bournemouth alley, waking after coma and brain surgery to an unresponsive body. For my son, that was a complete ‘reset’. His character was not changed by the attack… but his outlook was. From the grey mundanity of the nine-to-five, his world is now painted in the Technicolor shades of possibility and he has regained a sense of wonder at the beauty, fragility and tenacity of life.
By reaching within he has found a new direction for a strength that was once applied only to worldly ambiton, he has defined determination for himself and discovered the value of hope.
For me too the road our small family has shared has been one of discovery, starting in the depths and reaching triumphant heights as I watch my sons embark upon new journey, new adventures. I wonder if, without the dark times, we would have learned so much or understood so well the beauty of new beginnings that grow from painful endings?
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Great post!
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Thank you 🙂
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Lovely post Sue 🙂
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Thanks, Carol. 🙂
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
SAYING….CATERPILLARS SPREAD SEEDS AND THEN BECOME MOTHS OR BUTTERFLIES????
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So excited for Nick. Following this avidly.
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It really is brilliant, Fran… and tomorrow we roll 🙂
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Please wish Nick the very best of luck for me for the weekend pl;ease Sue.
xxx Gigantic Hugs xxx
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I will, David, though he is still reading comments for himself 🙂 xxx
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Lovely post. Another tear-jerker about real people doing really important things with the life they have. Loved it, Sue.
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Thanks, Diana. The past couple of weeks, writing about my son, have dredged up a lot of emotions here too.
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So exciting that he is able to actually propel himself now. Adds to his self pride, I know.
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It is allowing him to do so much now 🙂
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So wonderful!
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🙂
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Looking forward to reading about Nick’s triumph, Sue…and love the Quentin Crisp quote! So very true for so many of us…
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I doubt I will be able to resist posting this one 🙂
I do like a lot of Crisp’s writing.
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Reblogged this on Anita & Jaye Dawes.
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All the best for this weekend Sue! I hope it all goes wonderfully well xx
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Thanks, Helen. Everything is packed, organised and ready… now we just have to get there 🙂
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Reblogged this on oshriradhekrishnabole.
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Lovely post, Sue. Nick, don’t be put off talking to cows. I do it, too, and being sociable creatures they love a bit of a chat. Good luck tomorrow.
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Thanks Mary. I agree. Llamas seem to share that sociable habit too 🙂
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What a wonderful post. Yes Nick certainly does have a new beginning now with his trike and new found freedom. It is wonderful to see what an amazing transformation, he has made since that awful attack. There is a lot to be said for hope, determination, support and sheer bloody-mindedness!
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I think that last bit is possibly the most relevant… ‘refuse to lose’… 🙂
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Yes, indeed, and that is a great mantra.
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It has served him well so far 🙂
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Reblogged this on Edwina's Episodes and commented:
I loved this post about a miraculous new beginning from a near tragic ending.
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Spot on, Sue. It’s important to go through the bad times in order to appreciate the good ones. If life was easy and went along in a straight line, we’d just take it all for granted.
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I think we’d also get rather bored… there would be no point in either intellect or emotions, would there?
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This is an incredibly inspirational story.
I freely admit that I talk to animals, even the cows on my dad’s farm.
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I do too 🙂 More than I realise… 🙂
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So happy for you all Sue, best wishes for a most memorable event !! Great post. ☺
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Beautiful and inspiring. Best wishes!
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Thank you!
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Sue, I am so happy for David. Give him a big hug from me and know that I hold you both dear in my heart. Thanks so much for spreading this information. I LOVE this inspiring quote! ❤ ❤ ❤
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I will, Colleen… and thank you. 🙂 x
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Nick defines “overcoming obstacles.” What an amazing will he has and what amazing support you have provided. I’m awed, truly.
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Today he races in a triathlon… neither he nor I ever expected that 😀
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Wishing Nick all the best tomorrow – I’m be cheering him on from way over here! 🙂
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Thanks Eliza… we’re on our way 🙂
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Another great post, Sue.
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Sue I’m so far behind on reading/commenting due to scheduled events here in my world. So I am going to respond not sure if Nick has ridden yet for the weekend…..
GO GET ‘EM NICK!!!!
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He has now 🙂 And he was wonderful 🙂
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