A story from the Jamboree

[Guest guest]

We've just picked Ian up from the bus a few hours ago and he's been telling

us about all the wonderful things he got to do at the Jamboree. We've only

heard a part of it but he had a great time.

The boys were given a little booklet when they arrived and in it are a

couple pages of little squares where they were stamped for participating in the

activities all over the Jamboree. As they fill up the different sections, they

earn badges. One of the places he went to was a Disabilities Awareness area.

In it the boys participating in a variety of activities ... trying to shoot a

bb gun with their eyes shut while someone told them how to aim, using a

mirror to try and read and then write ... about a dozen different activities

meant to mimic or evoke empathy for people with different disabilities.

We haven't heard all of those stories, but he told us about the D/HOH

activity. The presenter explained about ASL and talking with your hands and

about

finger-spelling. She introduced herself, finger-spelling her name. Ian was the

only one on the crowd who understood her. He greeted her verbally by name

and then proceeded to sign with her. He said it was such a kick to be able to do

that. He hadn't realized how much signing he'd learned in our classes until

he was able to stand there and have that conversation with a total stranger.

And afterwards, he didn't find the other boys' questions embarrassing when he

explained why and how he was learning to sign.

What a kick. This is not the story I'd expected to hear as he began telling

about his activities. The rappelling tower, the bouldering walls, and the

monkey bridge (made of rope) ... that stuff I expected. The snorkeling, the 5K

run ... the military groups and their activities, those are the activities we

knew would be there. But Ian found all kinds of other things to participate

in as well, and his group of friends went though this area and had a lot of

fun with it. Pretty cool.

Last Wednesday, in that sweltering heat, they gathered all 45,000 boys & men

into the arena to hear President Bush speak at the evening's event. But then

that visit was canceled (at the last minute) due to the incoming

thunderstorm. They'd been in there waiting in the heat for over 2 hours. 300

boys had

been carried out of there after collapsing due to the heat (that detail was

also on the national news and we realized that no news was good news and Ian

must be fine). So, the army came in with firetrucks and shot the crowd with

their water cannons. Ian didn't realize what was about to happen and he was hit

with one of the first bursts of water. His aids were still in his ears. He had

a hoot but after that first burst of water, one of his aids was dead. So, he

stuck them into his pocket and enjoyed the rest of the drenching.

The dead aid then spent the next 2 days in the dry-n-store. Amazingly

enough, it's now working just fine. I was sure we were going to have to file

our

first-ever insurance claim. But no, those little devils work just fine after

being dried out. Pretty amazing, huh?

Best to all.

Jill