People With Disabilities

When thinking about friends with disabilities who live life to the fullest, two people immediately come to my mind.

In my life I have been fortunate and blessed to know many such people. Though for the sake of space within this column I will limit myself to sharing about the lives of two such individuals here. (Well, there may be a “surprise” third - as the reader will see.)

Greg Morrell and Bridget Ashley are two of the finest souls anyone could ever meet. (Greg has passed on, but I feel he is still with us, because his lifetime of work on behalf of people with disabilities lives on.)

Greg was my Avoca Little League team mate in the ‘60s. Later on in his childhood, he was left paralyzed by a freakish football accident at the age of 16.

Bridget became blind as a child while I was teaching her at Van Pelt Elementary School here in Bristol. The picture above was taken the night she was crowned Homecoming Queen by the student body at Virginia High School.

Greg, pictured above in his wheelchair, is seen teaching students in my classroom about how to respond to people with disabilities.

Both of these courageous friends, Greg and Bridget, overcame their own personal disabilities to live wonderfully meaningful and productive lives.