Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay, Part 4

So, after we took a group photo at the End of Day Celebration at Burnaby Village Museum, Rick half turned in his chair and spoke to me. He put his hand out and thanked me again for being a part of the relay and for the work that I do. I was glad I had my sunglasses clips on because behind them, my eyes were full of tears. I leaned down and thanked him for including me in the relay and then, I realized I had something else to thank him for. 

I took a deep breath so I could get the words out and thanked him for the nomination by his foundation for the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. I explained to him that it would be an honour under any circumstances to be nominated, but having that nomination come from his foundation was doubly meaningful to me. I told him I hadn't heard anything since the initial email in early February informing me my name had been put forward and he crossed his fingers and said "Fingers crossed that you get it!"

WOW! I was kind of reeling from our exchange, so I stepped back and a fellow Difference Maker came up to him and asked to get a photo with him. A light bulb went off in my head: when was I ever going to get this chance again? So after she was done, I politely asked him if it would be okay for me to get a photo with him as well and he said yes, almost before I could finish asking. I handed my camera to a Difference Maker standing nearby and Rick reached out to put his arm around my shoulder, so I crouched down and put my arm around him.

 I am so glad I have this photo. It means everything to me.

It's a funny thing when you admire someone so much and then the moment comes and you finally get to meet them. You always wonder if they are going to be who you think they are, or if you're going to be disappointed-people tend to build famous people up in their minds and they almost never turn out to be who you thought they were. I can honestly say that with Rick Hansen, what you see is what you get. He exudes kindness. When he shakes your hand, he looks you square in the eye and you know that he is 100% present in that moment. He really sees you. He is humble and genuine.

I don't have many personal heroes and the ones I do have I admire because they are ordinary people who have done extraordinary things with their lives. They people of great kindness and compassion, people who have shown great courage in the face of soul crushing adversity and who have used their lives to better the human condition. They are people of substance whose living examples have guided and informed my own life. Rick Hansen lives at the top of that list.

And speaking of lists, I can officially cross another very big thing
off my life's to-do list now:

-Meet Rick Hansen

The Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay, Part 3

So after launch with the family and a brief stop at home, I headed over to the Burnaby Village Museum, for the End of Day Celebration.

There was lots of entertainment-a band and a children's choir, both of which were very good. By this point in the day, I was quickly running out of steam, so I found a quiet bench where I could sit and enjoy the music while I wanted for the final medal bearer and Rick Hansen to arrive.

While I was sitting there, a member of the relay team, Lisa sat down beside me to take a break. We had a really great conversation about how I'd gotten involved in the relay and what life was going to be like for her once Wednesday rolls around and she doesn't have to pack up and hit the road anymore because the relay's over. I have to tell you that everyone I met from the Rick Hansen Foundation was helpful and really friendly. They are a great group of people-clearly the foundation attracts and hires the best!

 Eventually Rick and the end of day medal bearer arrived. There was a pretty good crowd, but this End of Day Celebration felt pretty intimate. 

Rick gave a short speech thanking his personal Difference Makers-people who were present at the End of Day Celebration who have stood by him, encouraged and supported him in his life. There was his high school coach who urged him not to give up on his dreams of being an athlete after his spinal cord injury and the university professor who had the vision to accept him into the physical education program at UBC, allowing the opportunity for Rick to be the first person with a disability to graduate from the program. There were also friends who accompanied and supported him on his original Man in Motion World Tour, all those years ago. All of them participated in the 25th Anniversary relay.

Here's our group photo. I am right behind the podium that holds the official medal in the centre. As it turned out, after we were finished, Rick turned and spoke to me. (I'll blog about that tomorrow.) I am really glad I went.

Here's the motor home the official photographers ride around in, in the relay convoy, just ahead of whomever is carrying the medal. It's quite the rig!

Each of the Difference Makers was given a keepsake medal, made by the Royal Canadian Mint, to continue to inspire us to keep working to make positive change in the world.

Remember I said Rick had signed the ribbon? Well here it is!

It really is a thing of beauty.

 The ribbon also has "Difference Maker" written in braille on it. The raised dots are rubbery, so they stand out from the ribbon. 

 The medals are double sided, just like the official one.

The swooshes kind of remind me of the branding for the 2010 Games. You can learn more about the medals here.

In addition to the medal, they were also giving out limited edition pins to medal bearers and their families. These will be treasured as well!

I have one more Relay post, tomorrow and then Tuesday night, I have a ticket to the big wrap up celebration. It's a concert featuring Sarah McLaughlin, Jann Arden, The Canadian Tenors, David Foster, Shane Koyczan & many more! David Suzuki is one of the presenters. It should be a very good time!

The Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay, Part 1

Hello friends! I know you've been patiently waiting for a report on how the last couple of days went. I am going to start with the relay and then back track to the gallery opening afterwards, so bear with me! There were a ton of photos on my memory card, so I've picked the best ones to share with you. I'm going to divide them up over a series of post for the next few days because I want to try and relate how amazing this whole experience was. The photos you'll, see are mine, unless they say RHF (Rick Hansen Foundation) below. In that case, they were taken by the official photographer of the relay and are being used with permission.

Okay, so here we go!

Friday morning, I got up at 5:30 am and got ready for the big day. My sweet husband was up before me and cooked me brekki (bacon, eggs & toast) to make sure I'd be properly fueled for the day. He's my Difference Maker-he takes such good care of me.

At 6:30 am, we headed over to the Evergreen Cultural Centre, the rendez-vous point for my flight of medal bearers. We knew we were in the right place, with the shuttle van parked right outside and a welcoming sign.

Wendy, our shuttle driver and Kayla, our Medal Bearer host were there to greet us, give us our uniforms and welcome us to our big day. After all the medal bearers arrived (there were 10 of us) we had a brief meeting where Kayla & Wendy talked about Rick Hansen and why this relay was so important and then we went around the circle and shared our stories. I was a bit nervous, so I said very little. (Yeah, go figure!) In fact, I'm not even entirely sure what I said...*laughs* It's all a bit of a blur.

In my group there was an elite runner, a teacher, a politician, a woman who works with people with disabilities, a student, a woman who works for the City of Coquitlam, an Olympian, a couple people who were nominated by their employers and me.

 I was medal bearer 007! Love that!

 Along the route, the relay team had posted medal bearer numbers on poles to mark where our portion of the relay would start.

The relay staff were very sweet and peeled the numbers off the poles to give to each of us as a keepsake. This is mine plastered on my back, once I'd been dropped off by the shuttle in my spot.

Here's Bob, a teacher in Coquitlam at Scott Creek Middle School handing over the medal to me.

He's a lovely man and he's about to hug me here. The schools had a professional development day yesterday, so even though the kids were off, they still got up early and came to school (Bob ran right past his school) to support him. That says alot about the kind of teacher he is!

The official Rick Hansen relay medal that has made its way across Canada for the last 269 days. When it finishes its journey, it will have been on the road for a total of 273 days and been carried by 7000 Difference Makers across this great country of ours. As you can see, it's been well loved-it's quite scratched, but that only adds to its charm.

The medal, made by the Canadian Mint is almost a full pound of silver, so it's quite heavy. The imprint you can see on it is from the glove Rick wore when wheeling around the world. It's symbolic of Rick passing the medal to each and every Difference Maker along the way. I was extremely honoured to carry it.

Photo Credit: RHF

My moment! Travelling along side me was a relay escort, who was super nice and a relay endurance athlete, who was riding a hand crank bike. We chatted the whole way. Indy and my husband got to walk with me, which was really nice. There was a large motor home in front of me, where the official RHF photographer were riding. The back of the motor home flips up and open, so the photographers have a clear shot of the medal bearers, travelling behind. 

Photo Credit: RHF

Tina Louise and I high-fiving as I pass the medal onto her.

Hugs! Note that the traffic is backing up-we were in the right hand lane, sandwiched for safety by the relay convoy, but the left hand lane was open to traffic, because it was morning rush hour. People were slowing down to look, so it became a parade.

You'll notice that Tina Louise has two numbers on her jacket. She ended up running a double section of the relay. (No problem for her-she's an elite runner!) Medal bearer #8 never showed up. I can't even imagine missing out on this opportunity-I'd wouldn't miss it for anything. I'd go, even if I had to drag myself there! Hopefully whomever it was is okay!

So...that's the first post on the relay. There's much more to come!