Sunday, August 28, 2011

How to Have Fun at the Beach

1.  Find a hunky lifeguard to give you a lift to the water.

2. Make friends with these great lifeguards who provided you with a beach wheelchair to make life much easier!


3. Ask some of the guards if they would like to get in the water.


4. Enlist mom to get wet too.


5. Wait for a big wave!





6. Just a little help getting back on the beach.


7.  A good book!



8. A fun trip back to the car.  We had a GREAT TIME!  Thanks Atlantic Beach Lifeguards.  And we appreciate the town providing beach wheelchairs!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Riding with Tony

Karly has been participating in therapeutic horseback riding for 11 years.  She has been riding Tony, a Belgian gelding for 3 or 4 years.  He's a gentle giant and takes good care of her.  Since Karly's kidney transplant she can no longer ride independently, as the doctors require her to have a side walker for safety purposes, but she still has a lot of fun!

In these pictures, Karly is participating in an egg drop class at a local horse show.  Riding is one of the greatest joys of Karly's life!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Karly's Life

My daughter, Karly, was born 18 years ago.  When she arrived, we found out that she had spina bifida, a condition caused by a hole in the spinal column, which is very similar to having a spinal cord injury.  While spina bifida can be a complex life situation, Karly has had a great life, with minimal medical issues or intervention until her kidneys failed 4 years ago.  Since then she has been through a lot, including a kidney transplant, but she is the most amazing person I have ever met and I wanted to share her story with you.