THANKSGIVING DAY

THANSGIVING DAY --- I hope that everyone is enjoying (or did enjoy) this day with family & friends or helping others. My thoughts and prayers go out to those serving our country during these difficult times. My thoughts also wander back to a different time when a number of former Army, Marine, Navy and Air Force veterans --- paraplegics and quadriplegics --- rolled the dice and gambled on an uncertain future South-of-the-Border. They left behind family, friends, and the security of hospitals or shut-in living looking for something else. Whether they realized it or not, they were about to enter into a special place and moment in time. John Zackowski, Ken Gulrud, Everett Vorrie, Frank Stoppiello and Jim Beletti knew nothing of one another. The only thing that they had in common was that they all had served their country. After they traveled to that special place in time --- Quadalajara --- they had much in common. Some crossed paths while there, some stayed in the same community house as others had before them, while all knew someone who knew someone who was friends with someone in this unique fraternity of paras and quads, men and women. I mentioned John, Ken, Everett, Frank and Jim because of something else that they have in common: family members --- sons, cousins, granddaughters and nephews --- who have recently contacted me through my website, http://www.quadmexico.com/, asking for or offering information/photos of loved ones. The wonders of the Internet....... I personally never met John Zackowski but have spoken to his wife and emailed his granddaughter, never met Ken Gulrud but have exchanged emails with his nephew, have/had many friends of friends of Everett Vorrie, know Frank Stoppiello very well, and knew Jim Beletti as a fellow Mexico PVA member and friend. I'm thankful for having been part of this unique community that spanned some three decades, and for having had the privilege of meeting and knowing so many of those whose lives were changed by the challenges and opportunities that it presented.