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 Built Tougher than Ford. Dana's Story.
By Sherri
I arrived early at Dana's mother's house. While
waiting for Dana I looked around taking in details of the house
in which she lived up until just this year. It was a monument of
everything important to her family - photographs, art,
knick-knacks, crocheted pillow covers, and in a prominent place
on the wall - a crucifix. I was clearly in the wrong house.
After all, I was to interview someone whose life was positively
changed by the Jewish Family Services. While I was pondering
what next to do, the back door opened and in rolled a huge
smile.
Dana has a permanent smile. It is big, it is genuine
and it is infectious. How could someone who had her entire life
turned upside-down be so permanently happy? I'll tell you how -
by not recognizing that her life was ever turned upside-down.
In August of 1998, Dana was an honor student about to
enter her senior year of High School. Senior year. The year she
was to be Student Council Secretary and a varsity member of the
softball, volleyball and basketball teams. This was the year of
formal dances and parties and college interviews. The year
friendships are solidified and first loves are lost. And found
again. The year in which a lifetime of memories are made.
I assure you, Dana will never forget her senior year. But not
for the obvious reasons. The month before school was to begin,
Dana was in a horrific car accident that left her in the
hospital for three weeks, in in-patient rehabilitation for three
months, and outpatient rehabilitation for another grueling year.
Dana suffered a head injury that required her to learn to talk,
write and read all over again. The accident also left her
paralyzed from the breastbone down, and in a wheelchair.
I could write pages about the accident and the lengthy
rehabilitation and recovery periods. I could describe the loss
of friends who didn't know how to cope with Dana's situation. I
could dwell on all of the things that were immediately stripped
from Dana's life. But because she didn't, I won't either.
I asked Dana how a 17-year-old could muster up the courage to
move on after such an ordeal. She told me she cried a lot. She
told me she was depressed and felt sorry for herself. She told
me she went through a range of emotions most teenagers never
have to experience in their lifetime. For two weeks. Yes, she
let herself grieve for two weeks. I have cried longer over a bad
haircut.
That was enough time. Dana said she couldn't undo what had been
done and that she needed to start living the life she was
handed. With tremendous support from her mother, a registered
nurse, and her friend since age five, Charlene, Dana
moved on after just two weeks. I think this is when I stopped
asking my ridiculous, pre-written interview questions about life
in a wheelchair. I felt so unprepared to talk to this amazing
woman sitting inches in front of me. When I told Dana how
amazing I thought she was she said, "It's not like I'm ... how does
that commercial go ... "Built Ford Tough?" I'm just a regular
person, I'm not so tough." I beg to differ, Dana.
That winter, Dana returned to her studies and prepared to
graduate with the rest of her class. But because a broken
elevator at her school kept her from attending two of her
classes on the second floor, Dana was forced to take classes at
home with a tutor and via phone and videos. But that didn't stop
her. Dana graduated with a 3.2 GPA. And that was just the
beginning of the next, even greater, chapter of Dana's life.
Dana went on to have a baby girl (even though doctors told her
she would be considered high-risk and probably wouldn't carry to
term - which of course she did!), get her driver's license,
attend college and pursue a job search for work in a field
related to her studies.
Dana looked through the paper and came across a Jewish Family
Services ad that offered help to those in need. So she picked up
the phone and called. "But you're not Jewish," I reminded her.
She said the ad didn't say you had to be. I asked her what gave
her the notion that she would qualify for help from a Jewish
organization. Dana said if someone were offering help, she'd
take it. If they changed their mind when they met her, they
could tell her to her face. Harriet at Jewish Family
Services didn't change her mind. She helped Dana find a job at
the YWCA in their daycare program. Dana wants to work with
children. In fact, she says she dreams of owning and operating
her own daycare program one day. Which means she will own and
operate her own daycare one day. There is very little that Dana,
when she sets her mind to it, cannot achieve.
After her one-year position at the YWCA ended, Dana returned to
Harriet and again, Harriet helped Dana find a job. Dana is
gearing up to begin her new job at the K Avenue Elementary
School in their after school care program.
I could write about Dana forever. She is a true inspiration. She
inspired her brother to go back to school and she has inspired
me to love and be grateful for the life I have been given. She
truly changed my life in just three short hours. And I could
have sat and talked with her for a million more. She is the
friend we all wish to meet in life. She loves movies (Beaches is
her favorite), to shop, to hang out with her family and friends
and to read. She burns coffee and hates standing in line at the
bank (and yes, she says "standing"). She tells really funny
stories (ask her about her ice-cream truck transportation
service), and her laugh will leave you laughing twice as hard.
Did I mention Dana's smile? When I am having a rough day, I can
close my eyes and picture it. Like a row of bright, white stars
guiding me to make the most of my life. Thank you Dana. Thank
you for being my North Star.
Sherri is an award-winning, freelance copywriter
who lives in Columbus with her husband, Jerrod, and sons, Henry
and Owen. She credits Mr. Frank Cole and Mrs. Jean Guddat for
her love of writing and her husband for encouraging her to
pursue her greater love - raising their children fulltime.
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