Handicap Retreat

My daughter Susan’s Junior High Sunday School class (which I teach) went on a “handicap retreat” last weekend. Each had to experience a handicap, the purpose being to better understand handicapped people.

I knew it was going to be good when I learned at registration that Janelle (our most talkative class member and perhaps the most talkative eighth grader in Green Lake) had to be mute.

Susan was blind for a day. But when Beth was trying to eat her grilled cheese sandwich with her arms tied down, Susan stole a quick peek in time to see her sliding her cheek across the plate in pursuit of the sandwich. Susan guessed that Beth hadn’t eaten many pancakes at breakfast!

Susan missed seeing Heidi fall out of her wheelchair. Apparently Janelle hit a rock while pushing her.

Some people had the handicap of being an “obnoxious normal.” One of them grabbed my blind Susan and pushed her into a pile of wet leaves. So Susan hit her with her cane. That’s my kid!

I’m sure I’ll get to hear all the rest of the wacky tales next Sunday. I don’t know if I want to hear much about the 10 x 10 bedroom with fifteen girls and hairspray so thick that “if you struck a match it would have blown up.” But I probably will.