Justin woke up this morning still talking about Norman! I wonder how long he'll wake up and the first thing he signs will be "Norman" and the last thing he points to before bed is his Daryl Dixon calendar? Meeting him must have been cool enough that his older brother was impressed! I texted him the picture in the top left corner and typically he tells me, "I know what Justin looks like. You don't have to send me pictures of him!" But this time he actually posted the picture on his Facebook Timeline! Siblings are such strange creatures! Haha!
I think I answered all the Tweets. There were so many I was afraid I would end up in Twitter Jail! How do people Tweet that much all the time? My fingers were exhausted! I thank you all for the comments, compliments, retweets, and the love! I shared this last night but it bears repeating here! I'm afraid that any future blog entries by me are going to be incredibly boring in comparison to what I've put on here up until now! I'm hoping to be able to cut enough money from my budget to get to the WW Con in Louisville or maybe Horrorhound Weekend in Cincy in March and then go back to Columbus in October! Hopefully things will fall in place!
I know that I felt my pictures with these guys were horrible and I'd like to lose quite a bit of weight before I have to do it again! I know that was my vow when I posted in Shine Until Tomorrow back in February, and I have lost about 20 pounds, but looking at those pictures, I sure feel like I need to lose about 30 more!
Ha! A new InspiredByReedus (and Flanery) adventure!!!
I've always loved this song, and it's been a bit of my anthem where Justin is concerned. And I guess now, I could say that the chorus could apply to Norman now too!
I can't thank you guys enough for the love and support!
I know I said I was going to do this tomorrow, but I'll probably be much more open now while I'm exhausted and everything is still fresh in my mind. And I'll be much less grammatically correct (so if you're an English teacher reading this...I apologize in advance!)
As you know, today was the reschedule day for Justin's hero to be in Columbus, and earlier this month when I heard that was going to be the case, I dutifully wrote it on Justin's calendar so he'd know that we weren't going to be able to see Norman on September 21st, but we'd go back the next Saturday and he could meet him then! Then as we walk in to the convention Friday, they are announcing that Norman Reedus would definitely be there Saturday and Sunday as scheduled. All through the day Sunday, I was debating whether or not to return on the 28th. and about 10 minutes before closing, I made my decision. Once you write something on Justin's calendar, it's a done deal to him! And besides, I've always been the type of parent that if I told my kids I'd do something, come Hell or high water, I'd make every possible effort to make sure it happened. I don't take making promises lightly! | So, I rolled his tuchas out of bed at 5:00 this morning, and through red, blurry eyes, he smiled that huge smile he's had since arriving at the convention last week. We got in the van and headed off to Columbus, Ohio for the third time in 8 days! If anyone needs directions to the Greater Columbus Convention Center, I can give them to you now! ; )
| | We arrived early since I was expecting a line and I wanted to make sure Justin had lots of room for his legs--all those screaming fangirls I've seen in youtube videos would not be a good combination with my kiddo! I knew that we had used our VIP tickets last week and we'd be general admission today. Justin's legs swell easily so waiting in long lines isn't that great for him. As we were waiting, who is roaming around and in and out of the rooms, none other than Sean Clark! Now I've heard stories about this man---"he's a sweetheart", "he's just dreamy", "he's such a terrific guy". I only knew what I knew about him from Twitter and other Internet sources. I had no reason to doubt he was a nice guy, but...
Anyway, I told Justin who he was last Sunday when we were waiting in line, and Justin recognized him immediately today! He started signing about him, and Sean walked close enough by that I was able to get his attention and ask for a picture with Justin. Okay...now I must admit "Sean is a sweetheart". "He's just dreamy!" "He's a terrific guy!" And Justin loves him to death! When this picture made it's rounds on Twitter, Sean responded with:
Sean Clark @malfuncsean1h
@ennoia3 @Tammyh765 Great seeing you both again!
Just a few simple words, but when I showed Justin he was grinning from ear to ear again!
Like I said, I knew we'd be waiting a while since we weren't new VIP's this time, but about 35 minutes before time for things to get going, the Wizard World folks asked us to step out of line, and they let Justin and another young girl be VVIP's again! (I can't say enough about how terrific they treated us both times!)
I took Justin in and we got ready to do our photo op and Norman tried to get Justin to run over one of the workers! Perhaps a dangerous request because I'm pretty sure that if Norman asked Justin to drive off a cliff, he might just do it! LOL We got our picture taken and I don't know how but I seem to look worse in this one than I did in the one from last week! I hate having my picture taken! So if that one gets posted it'll be edited to just half the picture! After the picture was taken, Justin tried his darndest to hug Norman! I convinced him he could get a hug in a bit because there were lots of folks needing to get done!
We went on around and got into a line waiting for our autographs! And we waited and waited for what probably seemed like hours to Justin. He sat staring at the door waiting for His Highness Reedus to arrive! (And occasionally telling the ladies beside him that Norman had signed his braces last week!) As we wait for him, Sean goofed off with the radio and sung a bit, and Justin thought the man was hilarious! Awesome job kudos to Sean for not only making my son smile and happy, but he got him laughing too! Perfect!!! (Did I say "Sean is a sweetheart" yet?)
Then it happens! THE MAN walks in! Never mind that he refuses to sing for us..(I've seen the video of him and Sean on the back of a golf cart and I don't think he's a bad as he claimed he is.)---neither here nor there!
The young lady in front of us goes on up to the table for her autographs, and Norman treats her like she's the only one in the room at that moment. His attention is on her and it's a wonderful thing to watch! Then it's Justin's turn! Most people try to talk to Justin and when they figure out he's non-verbal they talk to me to ask me questions about him or about what he's saying and occasionally they'll glance down at him! Norman wasn't like that at all! Even last Sunday when he was checking out Justin's Walker Stomper braces, and he asked how they made them, his focus was still on Justin! Astoundingly incredible! And perhaps when I've had time to look back on all this, I'll get just a tad bit jealous that Justin got all the attention from this man that I've loved since I saw Floating far too many years ago to count! But for now, he's made my son's wishes and dreams come true! He got to meet the awesomely cool dude who played Murphy MacManus, Scud, Swain, Mac, the Recovery Man, Kirby, Jonathan Casey and Daryl Dixon. (Those are the only movies/shows of Norman's that Justin has watched.)
I thanked him for meaning so much to Justin, and being humble he replied that Justin was "awesome" and didn't let what I said go to his head. Or perhaps, he really just didn't understand the magnitude of what I meant.
For those of you who saw the pages of the scrapbook we gave Norman, you've seen this, but it bears repeating here. I don't know if he saw it or read it, but I meant every word. I hope to be able to take Justin to a convention about every 6 months or so, but that may be too lofty of a goal for a single mother! And health may be an issue again down the road a bit. So until then, we'll hold on to the memories of what a wonderful experience of a lifetime that Justin got to have! Thanks for reading these blogs and taking this journey with us! And thanks so much for this Tweet from a friend: a norman co-stalker @ennoia32h
Make sure you read this but be prepared for major feels! RT:@Tammyh765 @wwwbigbaldhead You can read his story here: http://inspiredbyreedus.weebly.com/blog.html
Ohio WW Comic Con September 23, 2013
Well, it definitely appears that we are headed back to Ohio in about 10 hours! Justin seems just as excited this time as he was last weekend! I'm hoping he's not expecting all the glitz and glitter of last weekend! He said he knows it's just going to be Norman and long lines there! Let's hope!
Thanks to my pictures posted on Twitter, I've been in touch with lots of different people this week! There were tons of comments and numerous retweets of Justin's BDS picture! That was pretty awesome! Thanks to everyone who did that!
Check out this one:
Tana-Jean :-) @TanajeanNorcros 25 Sep
@Tammyh765 @seanflanery @wwwbigbaldhead @BoondockSaints that is by far one of the best pictures I've ever seen on Twitter
That was pretty cool to read!
I found that after the convention I was really very, uh, quiet and contemplative....almost on the verge of tears virtually all week! I really couldn't figure it out! I got to meet three awesome men and got pictures with them; I got autographs from SPF and Norman; I'd delivered the gift that I'd made; Norman made a huge deal over Justin's braces! Why in the heck wasn't I floating on cloud 9? I couldn't figure it out no matter how hard I tried! Several times the answer seemed to be right within my grasp and then all of the sudden, it was gone! That just made it worse! I didn't feel like Tweeting or getting on Facebook because I felt like I would just be a "Debbie Downer" (no offense intended to my friends named Debbie! :D )
Now I'm not one to stay in a dark mood for more than a day or so, so this funk really had me perplexed!
On my way to work yesterday, a song came on the radio and everything suddenly fell into place! Unfortunately, I ended up crying my eyes out, but none the less...I had the answer!
I think about all that's happening in the world and here at home and all the people who sacrifice so much for us to be able to live as we do...the soldiers, the police officers, the firemen...and I wonder if I'm overdoing my gratitude for a couple of actors. And maybe I am, but when I look at the picture of Justin and I see that he's sitting up so straight without any pillows to support his hips, I don't know what else to think other than these guys are heroes to him and angels to me!
So until tomorrow....some pictures to share! If you really want to get a bit "inspired" start the video above at 1:00 and watch the pictures! (When I get time, I'll fix the slide show with music.)
We're home; Justin's settled into bed; and I should be getting that way too. But the whole weekend has finally gotten to me. That's just the way I am: I keep my shit together until it's all over, then I fall apart.
We got to do three photo ops with Norman. The first was with the Dixon Brothers! That's his little brother on the left! Justin and Micheal seem to be about to beat the crap out of someone, don't they?
Justin had the time of his life! He made all kinds of creatures stop and pose with him! I think he might have single handedly saved this universe and the Star Wars universe. He made a storm trooper say he was a nice guy; made friends with a jawa; fought off the bad guys with the green power ranger; convinced alien that he was just a big softie; learned that you can take down a wookie simply by running over his fur; met Rick and Dale, and fought alongside Batman! But BEWARE! He wouldn't have anything to do with Predator, so he may still be running amok somewhere! And more importantly, he hung out briefly with the Saints!
OMG! Could there be three more handsome men in the universe?!?!?!
Like I said, he had a blast! You can just see the sparkle in his eyes! I think my son is now a comic con junkie! I sure we'll end up at more conventions as long as his health stays good!
I made a statement at the beginning about falling apart. Now for the reasons behind that...
#1. I'm exhausted!
#2. Twenty-five years of caring for Justin has left my body pretty beat up, so I have some pain from all the lifting, standing and walking of the weekend.
#3. This man!
Norman didn't have time to read the scrapbook, so he still didn't have any clue how incredibly important he is in Justin's life when this picture was taken! And even if he never reads it, it won't matter because I KNOW what he's done for Justin. And you can see it in J's eyes! Maybe Norman will read the book and know; maybe he'll happen upon this website and read it; I don't know.
I think I'll have to finish this tomorrow because I'm sitting here typing and tears are flowing and I really can't see what's getting written onto the computer...
Love you all!
SO after the 4 1/2 hour trip back to Indiana and the 4 hour trip back to Columbus...Yes, I was tired of sitting in the van so I sped a tad bit...we finally made it back here, gift in hand. We had a bit of time to look around at WW and it's definitely an exciting adventure. All that practice Justin did at driving went right down the drain because he's far too busy watching everyone for us to move more than 1 foot every 15 minutes! LOL
Oh well! Maybe tomorrow!
Justin actually slept well last night! (Much better than I did!) We're getting ready to pack everything into the van and then head back over for a day of Reedus photo ops: Dixon Brothers, BDS, and Norman!
Only one picture to share right now. I know it's not of Reedus, but remember if it weren't for SPF, I wouldn't be active on Twitter, let alone putting this website together with Leah!
 http://wizardworlddigital.com WOOTS!!! It was Friday morning...time for the big adventure. We piled all our stuff in the van and headed to Ohio....no easy feat you'll know if you've ever traveled with a kid with disabilities! We arrive at our destination about 4 1/2 hours later, go eat dinner, and head over to the convention center. As we are walking through the doors they made the announcement that Norman had been able to work out his conflicts and would be appearing Saturday and Sunday as originally planned! Excitedly, Justin started signing the name sign he has for "Norman" and then I get excited....then I get not so excited! The book I'd made him and the small gifts Justin wanted to give him (a skull necklace just like one he has himself and a couple of toys for EITD) were at home...in Indiana!
I quickly go into problem solving mode. How long will it take me to get back home and then back here to the hotel? Was it worth it to try? Should I just plan to return next week instead? I think it was kind of a done deal when Justin heard that he would be there. I had no real choice but to make the long trek back home and get the gifts and then return later this afternoon.
We walked around a bit and returned to the hotel about 9:00 and I did the hour long routine to get Justin ready for bed, and then perform my half hour routine to get ready; settle myself into the nice cozy bed; and then listen to Justin yak and yak.....until almost 1:00! Finally....I look over and he's asleep...knees in my back....but asleep! Then I try to get to sleep, but I don't know if it was the 6 hour energy shot I took 15 hours earlier or just the excitement of the whole shebang but sleep wasn't happening for this chick! Finally about 2:00 A.M. I dozed off, only to roll over about 4:22 and see Justin's eyes WIDE OPEN! No amount of coaxing would make him close his eyes and go back to sleep!
So now, at 6:00 A.M. I'm just about to head out the door and travel back home. We'll rest about an hour once we get there and then head back out the door again! I think me and I-70 are going to become good friends this weekend!
(To be continued......)
With years of living with depression, social anxity, panic attacks, personality disorder, ptsd, and agoraphobia 7 yrs of my life I lost. Those years and the days even now I will never get back. All the pain I have sufford thru all the pain I have caused can not be taken away. After being in therepy and phychiatrist they said I was fine. I accpted it only because my insurance was done covering the cost. I am lil smart.lol I remain on my medications that have gotton to be like natural part of the day.
In February of this year 2013 my 2nd oldest niece Jennie (17 my closest alley all these years) begged me ok suggested that I open a Twitter account. Why? I have done the FB thing for long time but never interacted just played games. She insisted it was nothing like FB and that I would like it. Her speach had me listening. Some what. Come on AuntLeeLee you can start out following your favorite actor of all time and others. Eventually you will meet others. So a little reluctantantly I let her open one for me. We stayed up for 4 hours gettin me to figure out just the basics. LOL it was funny.
Of course the first place I went or she went to was to @wwwbigbaldhead and I followed. Read thru every single tweet and moved on. Followed Sean Patrick Flanery, Paul j Alessi and more. The next day I got on twitter again to see I had followers WOW is all I thought. One of the first few I met who I love dearly is @ktocci. She was my guide I guess you could say to all things Norman and Twitter. Mainly Norman. I adventualy only couple weeks in was kinda enjoying it. Thru Kym I met so many Norman fans. It was amazing to see how many loved this man as much if not more then me. lol
3 and 1/2 weeks later I was just getting off the computer after talking to one of new Loverlies Louise. I logged of the computer and as soon as I did my phone went off. You have a follow on twitter. I thought nothing of it. Went got ready for bed turned on the oxygen the cpap machine started to put on the mask. Last second I thougth to check just to see who followed. It was a good thing I had my oygen on because I was followed by the man himself the one and only Norman Reedus. Over the past months I have learned alot more about this man other then the obvious sexiness, unbelievable good looks. He has a quality that not any other actor has. He is how do you say it. I don't think you can put it all into words. To shorten this down. I found him to be very motivating , loveing, giving, passionet man the list goes on and on.
The words to discribe the inspiration he is able to install in so many of us is unbelievable. I met @Tammyh765 and got to know her and her story. There are others that had the same emotions of inspiration.
Norman became my motivation, insperation to fight my fear my phobia. So many friends talk about meetingh him and how amazingly sweet and kind. I always look forward to there experiances after a Con. Pictures and all. When Tammy came up with her book idea for Norman she asked me to write a lil letter to Norman and she would put it on some of my favorite photos of him and add it to her book. A book to give to him when she takes her soon on the 28th of september. Next week. How he has inspired he son to work so hard to sit up straighter and so much more. I was honored to be included. Months after she finished her book. Few weeks ago I was talking with her one night about it and how J was so excited. I smiled to myself and almost cried. After meeting Tammy well on twitter and talking becoming friends and finding a bond with her I no longer felt alone. Norman Reedus has brought almost half million people togeather as fans alone. Just imagine how many of us have become like a family always saying Love you. Constant Love. He has given me the desire the drive the inspiration to work harder on my abilities to go out in public. I find inspiration in many things thru him.
But before i end all my rambling. I have to also tell u about finding more then just inspiration. I found friends which I havent had in 7 yrs cuz i never am able to go out meet people. I found the abiltiy to interact with others. I have found that just because you have never met someone face to face doesnt mean they are not your friends. I have found that when you least expect it you will find inspiration thru your inspiration. My newest inspiration is my friend my family @Tammyh765 and her son J.
This website was an Inspiration from an Inspiration of Tammys Inspiration of her sons Inspiration of NORMAN REEDUS!!!! CONFUSING LOL !!! In the end I found more then Inspiration!!!
This is all new to me, and not something I do easily. I'm a very private person. To quote one of my favorite movies about men sharing their feelings..."Real men hide their feelings. Why? Because it's none of your....business!" (Murphy, Conner, & Rocco in BDS 2) Now, I'm not a man, but it does seem that that's the way I've lived my life up until recently. I always felt that I had to keep my thoughts and feelings guarded. Other people have their own problems they are dealing with, my life probably wasn't really that important to them and, honestly, others don't need to know what's going on in my head!
But in February 2013, I came across a blog called SHINE UNTIL TOMORROW. I read what SPF had to say about making a public proclamation about changing your life, and for some reason, I wrote a response. And what happened a few days later started me down the road I'm on now. He wrote a comment...three little words..."Beautiful! God Bless." I decided maybe it wasn't so bad to open up a bit and share a little of myself. Yes, I know this is a website dedicated to the inspiration of Reedus, but I wanted to give SPF that little nod! (And besides, without him, I never would've gotten around to knowing how motivational Reedus could be!)
My story is on the forum page, probably not as eloquent or poetic as it could be, but it's the facts. You see? My son Justin was born with a heart defect, and at the age of 3 weeks, he suffered a heart attack. We almost lost him far more times than I care to remember when he was little...a constant fear of waking up each morning and finding he hadn't made it through the night. That probably had a lot to do with me feeling that no one needed to know what I was feeling or thinking. It's a pretty hard thing to deal with when you have a three year old also and you're only 23 years-old yourself and you didn't make the best choice in the world for a husband.
 Justin was 3 when I became a single mother with 3 little boys. That was 22 years ago. After the first 10 years and several heart surgeries, Justin's health was pretty good. I began to relax a bit. Then about 3 years ago, things started being not so great. His heart functioning started decreasing, and hearing that your son's heart is only functioning at about 60% capacity and there's really nothing they can do is just as devastating at the age of 44 as it was at the age of 23. Then in January of 2012, I got a frantic phone call from his nurse... Justin was coughing up a bunch of blood and the ambulance was on it's way...and it wouldn't stop. He was airlifted to a hospital in Indianapolis and spent a week in ICU. The pulmonologist was kind enough to not tell me how truly worried he was about Justin for the first several days, until after Justin was over the rough spots. We both KNEW how bad it was, but...
He got better from that and we went along our merry little way. Then in November, it happened again. Two very traumatic physical events in a year. He got better again, and we were sent home with instructions that when it happens again, we were to instruct any ER we ended up in to get him to Indy and once there admit him directly into ICU, even if they did get the bleeding to stop.
I joined Twitter shortly after receiving those three little words from SPF, and I lurked there for a while. Eventually I began to Tweet more and as I picked up more followers. And like most of those die-hard Norman fans, when I see a picture of Norman that I like, I right click and save it. After accumulating so many pictures of him, I began to ask myself "What the heck am I going to do with all these pictures?" So I started making collages and I tweeted them developing a small but loyal base of Twitter friends. Some of those friends kept talking about meeting Norman, and some time during the past year and a half, Justin decided he liked The Walking Dead. We usually take a small vacation so that Justin can stay in a hotel because he loves it! And as I read more and more stories about people meeting Norman, I decided that THAT would be Justin's vacation this year. When he likes someone from TV, he'll look at the TV and point to himself, meaning he wants to see that person that he likes so well or that he's their buddy. Norman seemed to be the one person that Justin loves from TV that I could possibly actually take him to see. I found a con close enough to home that if something happens to Justin we can probably get back to Indy. So we are now scheduled to take a weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio in just a couple weeks. Norman had to cancel his date for the 20th and 21st, but the Wizard World was able to book him for the following Saturday. So it looks like we are taking our short weekend vacation in two weeks and then following that up the next Saturday with a 8 hour round trip to actually meet the person who has inspired my son to put so much work into sitting up straight and controlling his wheelchair better!
I'll keep you posted!
@Tammyh765
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