Sports are a big part of my life. I watch a lot of professional basketball and occasionally football. Sometimes soccer too. Sports are enjoyable to watch once people understand the rules. I am the only one of my family that gets involved in the games. Often I get so caught up that I don’t notice my body language. Arms swinging around. Legs trying to break out of the straps. My body gets a workout every time. It is difficult to sit still when exciting stuff is happening. No one likes feeding me during the games. My mouth becomes a moving target. I learned to eat quickly between all of the breaks. 

While watching, I keep forgetting to chew my food. Then I begin coughing and choking. It is not just during the games. Over the last couple months, my habits got worse and worse. There were times when I got my parents really worried. They rarely get concerned. I was gagging on my pills more than usual. If I scare my parents, then it is a serious problem. It came to the point that we needed to do something. I wondered about trying a new medicine that relaxes my muscles. Mom felt that wasn’t the right direction to go. She did some looking. Finally, there is a simple solution to the problem. 

In the sports field, positioning is very important. Players can’t shoot the basketball well while looking at the ceiling. Quarterbacks would have a hard time focusing if their head is leaning sideways. Same principles apply to eating properly. Before mom found the solution, my chin was up most of the time. Almost everything that goes into my mouth slides straight down to the back of my throat. I have no choice besides coughing and choking. Once I started putting my chin down, I had more control. The back of my throat isn’t wide open like before. Think of it like a straw. People like to put tiny wrappers in the straw and blow it to shoot at others. When the straw is straight, people can aim. What if it gets bent? There wouldn’t be enough air to go through. I also learned by having my head down, the esophagus is more open. It is better to cough when facing forward. Like in sports, positioning is the key.

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The last couple years before Thanksgiving, my mom asked us to send her links of stuff we want for Christmas. So she doesn’t have to rush to order everything weeks before the last big holiday. I would probably do the same thing with my future family. The week of Christmas is absolutely insane. Even though delivery companies hire more people and truck drivers work longer hours, packages still get delayed. If Santa Claus was real, he wouldn’t drop off every present on time. Plus with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it is cheaper to buy stuff. 

As I keep growing older, it seems to be getting harder to know what I want. That’s usually the case with most people. Having a physical disability limits the things I can do and go. Whenever I receive something that is touchable, it ends up being a waste of money. I can’t hold anything with my hands. Every time I open a present, someone usually helps me to start unwrapping. To me, that is hard not being able to open my own presents. I don’t dwell on it. My family enjoys seeing me happy when opening gifts. I keep that in mind.

People around my age mostly ask for clothes or gift cards. I don’t like asking for clothes because they get dirty easily. With people picking out my clothes, I don’t wear my new ones often. I could go through my clothes and have someone to set them aside for the next day. It is the extra effort for someone who isn’t picky about what to wear. I love gift cards, but most of them ended up sitting in my wallet. Unable to drive and feed myself, I don’t go out much. A thought appeared to me last year. If people send gift cards through my email, I would be more likely to order food and have it deliver to me. I am the type of person who waits to spend until I see something that fills my wants. That explains why presents are hard for me. 

Another reason for difficulty to ask is because most of the stuff I want is out of budget. Whether it is a piece of technology, going to an event, or saving up for a trip. I would love to get out more and experience life. With a big family, my Christmas budget is not much. If I wanted to attend a basketball game, that would be my one present. Do you know what I would love to do? Take breaks from my daily tasks and go on trips more often. If I save all of my birthday and Christmas budget for three years, my parents would be able to afford to take me to Los Angeles. That would include pitching in a lot of my money. What is the purpose of Christmas without any gift? It would take away the joy from my parents of finding and surprising me Christmas morning. Some years they did a good job of fulfilling my needs. Seeing me smile on that morning is worth the struggle of getting the right presents.