Lise Pace Finds the Inner Strength Needed to Embrace the Journey

Yeah! I ran/walked the 500 Festival Mini Marathon on May 7, 2011 in 3 hours and 36 minutes. It was my single greatest physical achievement in my life (other than giving birth to my son). I definitely learned a lot during the process of “training” for the event. It was a very valuable experience in my life’s journey. I have heard it said before that the destination we find in life is not as important as the journey. I think that is very true with the exception of something that challenges you physically. At every mile marker during the Mini, with my sighted guide, Nicole Hull, ALL I could think about was the destination. I wanted to make it to the FINISH LINE!

The first lesson I learned on the path is, I could not have made it to the end without the camaraderie of my teammates, especially Nicole, an Employment Specialist at Bosma Enterprises who was selfless as a sighted guide. As she does everyday in her job, she let me run MY race. She simply guided me through the challenge. And, as part of the Bosma Enterprises’ team, I knew I owed it to my teammates to finish the race and to support the other people who were participating in the event.

The second lesson was realized at about mile ten. Our team coach, Heather Quigley-Allen, who happens to also be my boss, told the team, your mind will tell you to quit long before your body. I hate to admit, this is so true! My mind gave me a million reasons to quite several times but, I heeded her warning and my body persevered. I think that in my life’s journey when I think “I can’t, it won’t work, how could I possibly?” I will draw on the strength that I found somewhere deep inside to keep going. I had a lot of reasons why I could have not even started the race, “I had major surgery, I am blind, my dad died, fill-in-the-blank” but, not only did I start, I finished!

The last thing through the Mini Marathon journey is we all need support. Bosma Enterprises had a tent in the Runner’s Village where my thoughtful, early rising volunteers were there to greet me prior to the race. Then, at the very last Pit Station of the race, there were 40 volunteers manning the Bosma Pit Station. Aren’t volunteers the GREATEST? The Pit Station volunteers had to be positioned even before the race participants arrived. Not to mention, they had to stay later to clean up. They are the heroes in my eyes! I cannot even describe what it felt like to have friends, family, AmeriCorps* VISTAs cheering me on when I did not think I had the inner strength to go on. At Pit Station 16, my mind and body were in definite conflict. The support of others made my journey successful. And, isn’t just finishing to the best of your potential—good enough?

All my life I have been a perfectionist. This experience made me realize that in some cases, it is okay to accept finishing. I do not desire to be a world class runner. What I want is to embrace every journey in this life and to accept the destination when it makes sense to do so. I want to treasure my mentors, my friends, and supporters. Lastly, I know now that I can trust myself and others implicitly. Life is mostly about the journey but, the destination is important too, especially when it is 13.1 miles away.

Lise Pace takes a brave plunge into Mini-Marathon training in this in Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives March blog

I think Spring is here—officially or unofficially! Today I took a really long walk with my husband by Eagle Creek.  It was really nice.  We walked on a really beautiful trail close to the Colts’ Practice Complex which made me think about the Super Scarves project we are doing at Bosma Enterprises.  Our knitters, weavers, and people who crochet have gone crazy crafting scarves for the 2012 Super Bowl volunteers.  We have about 13 scarves to donate with our goal being 25.  Everyone is so proud of their work and excited to be able to participate as a Super Bowl volunteer!  I am still working on my scarf.  I am about half way finished which is the farthest I have gotten without discovering a mistake and starting over.  I think this is the one that I will donate when it is finished. I know that I am not alone in wanting to give a perfect scarf to a volunteer.   All of us are trying to donate something really nice to the volunteers.

The reason I was walking is that I am on Bosma Enterprises 500 Mini Marathon team.  The team is made up of sighted and blind or visually impaired runners and walkers.  Our coach, who happens to be my supervisor, sold this activity to me.  I have not decided whether it was good or bad decision yet.  I will let you know after the race.   I am committed to finishing though—no matter what!  I believe I can finish if for no other reason than I am really stubborn.  The other reason I must finish is Bosma Enterprises is hosting the last Pit Station of the race.  Sixty wonderful volunteers from our organization will be there, cheering me on.

My coach has been playfully giving me a hard time because I will not be participating in a training race on April 9^th.    There are several training races that will lead up to the big Mini Marathon race in May.  The race on the 9^th is the same day as Bosma’s annual fundraising event at the Conrad, Dining in the Dark.  I am just not at a place in my life where I want to run 10 kilometers (unless I am running from imminent danger), put on a dress and heels, and host our esteemed guests at this function. I just do not see that happening—no matter how much I am cajoled.  Maybe next year I will have more of the “eye of the tiger’” and the running bug will bite me (all the higher functioning people on our team tell me this exists—I have significant doubt).  Not this year!

 

 

 

 

 

Lise Pace prepares for Dining in the Dark, Bosma Enterprises major fundraising event, in this Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives February blog

Oh my gosh—never in my life would I have thought that a 48 to 50 degree day would feel like summer time to me, but the weather this past three days is making me look forward to spring and summer. It is probably too early for me to get my seasonal hair highlights and start using my tinted moisturizer, but I am really tempted!  My husband laughs at my optimism (he thinks we still will have a couple of big storms this year) as he has been shoveling off the four inches of ice and snow on his way to our grill.  Yes, we grilled out—we are really anxious to see the spring showers and May flowers—and to eat food off the grill.

It is a really busy February around Bosma Enterprises as we look forward to the spring. Bosma Enterprises volunteers, 25 of them, have begun making their scarves to donate to the 2012 Super Bowl initiative, Super Scarves.  For the most part, it has gone really well and we even have one person who has completed their first scarf.  Amazing!  I am not only coordinating the project, but I am hoping to knit a scarf or two to donate.  I have really struggled with this project because I want the scarf I turn in to be perfect. I have gotten both a quarter of the way through a scarf, even half way once—only to discover an imperfection.  I am currently on my third attempt and so far so good. This project, in spite of me, has been amazing to watch develop. It has been wonderful to see people who have never crafted a scarf before learn; to observe people who have a significant disability overcome obstacles so they can give back to their community; and to watch people help each other learn how to make a scarf whether they are using a loom, knitting or crocheting.

We are also preparing for one of our annual fundraising event at the Conrad Hilton.  It is titled Dining in the Dark.  The event provides an opportunity for participants to eat a meal in an environment that provides a glimpse into what it might be like to do without any vision.  Of course, it is not promoted that this one night event demonstrates what it is like to be blind or visually impaired, that is not the purpose of holding it.  Instead, I hope that it gets people thinking about what needs to be accomplished to provide opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired to be independent. As someone who is visually impaired, I love the event and am looking forward to it.  Last year, it raised a lot of money to support programs that provide training which is so incredibly important.   Our inaugural event was sold out last year and I believe we only a few spots remaining this year.

This month or early in March, I will be taking part in the chartering of Bosma Enterprises’ Toastmaster Club. In August, Josh Eskew, an AmeriCorp*VISTA deployed at our organization began putting it together as a method to develop the skills of volunteers participating in our Speakers’ Bureau.   The club has gained momentum and now includes volunteers, members of our staff from across the company—all levels, and we have just opened it up to the community so anyone can join our club.  The meetings are so much fun and it is heartwarming to see people who you had no idea were articulate and insightful shine while speaking in front of a group of their co-workers.  May I remind everyone it is said that most people would rather be the person ion the casket than the person delivering the eulogy!  So for a lot of people, including me—it is a major accomplishment to just participate.  The other neat thing about the club is that everyone is equal during the meetings.  We are just a group of people trying to improve our speaking and listening skills.

My husband just brought dinner in and while it doesn’t feel like summer tonight, our meal sure smells like the aroma of the BBQ and gives

 

Lise Pace reflects on the holidays and her current projects in this Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives January blog

The holidays were better than I thought which I didn’t expect because of losing my father this year.  Of course there was emptiness but, for whatever reason, Christmas was not as difficult as Thanksgiving,  I was extremely grateful to spend the holidays with my son who was home from IU and my husband, both of whom bring me a great deal of joy.

It has taken a few days to get back into the groove after returning to work from the holidays, but I have a lot of great projects I am working on the keep me energized.  I am currently coordinating Bosma Enterprises’ corporate volunteers to participate in Super Scares, an initiative by the 2012 Super Bowl Committee to give all 8,000 of the volunteers participating in the event a scarf to wear as part of their uniform. We will be holding classes over the next several weeks for employees, both who have sight and people who are blind or visually impaired, to learn how to knit or crochet.  I am estimating that between our new scarf-makers and the people here who already know how to knit or crochet, we should be able to donate about 25 scarves.

Another activity I am working on is putting together a statewide volunteer Speaker’s Bureau.  People who are blind or visually impaired in certain areas of the State are underserved.  We want to get the word out that there are a tremendous amount of services Bosma Enterprises can provide to people who have lost or are losing their vision.  Once recruited, our statewide volunteers will assist in this effort.  Training for people who are blind or visually impaired makes the difference between being independent or not—it is exciting to think that soon we will reach people and empower them.

The other really exciting project I am helping out with is serving on the nominating committee for the Community Mentoring category of the Inspire Awards. If you are interested in nominating someone, you can do so at www.collegementors.org/inspire..

Our very own, Lise Pace guest blogs in this Office of Faith Based & Community Initiatives blog. Check it out!

This month was full of high and lows.  There was the high of recognition at work and celebrating my first Thanksgiving with my new husband. Also this month, I participated in holiday celebrations without my father who passed away this summer.  Of course the high of appreciation at work is not really comparative to how it feels to lose someone you love.  I am sure that many people struggle this time of year.  You are surrounded by family, but there is someone missing.

At the beginning of the month, I was recognized at my place of employment, Bosma Enterprises, as Employee of the Month.  As someone who was receiving disability income less than three years ago, it was an honor to be selected by my peers as someone who was an asset to the organization.  I hoped that my work was benefitting others, but I would be lying if I said that I never woke up at night worrying about something work related and didn’t wonder if anyone noticed my accomplishments, and did anyone care?  It does seem that my work was noticed and people do care which feels really good.

I was telling someone the other day that I am grateful to work for a mission driven organization.  At this time in my life, I am able to pursue my passion, something that was not afforded to me when I first entered the workforce.  When I graduated from high school, I attended college and worked at a bank.  I was relatively good at it and was promoted to a customer service representative, then to loan officer, then to assistant manager, etc., etc.  It never occurred to me that I had choices.  Oddly, it is the repercussions of losing my vision that has brought me to this place of opportunity.  Life really is an amazing journey.

As I mentioned, my dad is gone this year and it is a tremendous loss.  My family will honor him this year by carrying on a tradition he started so he will be with us in spirit.  Five years ago, my family began forgoing a traditional gift exchange.  Instead, everyone brings a $20-25 gift with all the adults picking from the pile of wrapped gifts.  With the money we save on buying gifts for one another, we make a collective family donation to a charity.  For us, it has removed the stress from the holidays and we are able to pay our good fortune forward since none of us really need anything anyway.  Now Christmas Eve is filled with faith, fellowship, family and fun.

This year has been filled with highs and lows.  I got married this year, my son is healthy and happy, and I work a job I find tremendously satisfying.  But loss has been felt this year too.  I am looking forward to next year and I wish everyone health, happiness, and joy in the coming year.

The Strength of One

The Strength of One

Being visually impaired has proven to be no obstacle for Lou Campos.

After a truck accident caused Lou to alter his career path, he found himself at Bosma Rehabilitation, reevaluating his life.

“Giving up the keys was most difficult for me – I soon realized my vision is what had caused the accident,” says Lou Camps, now a Manual Skills Instructor for Bosma Enterprises. “Because I wasn’t able to see everything I needed to, I lost my job; later the doctors told me I had Retinitis Pigmentosa.”

When Lou entered The Bosma Rehabilitation Center as a client, he needed somewhere to channel his frustrations. Overwhelmed with where to turn next, Lou discovered a talent he never knew he had – his strength. Lou found himself a trainer and began channeling his frustration through weight lifting.

“My trainer advised me, with my build and my stature – the possibilities are endless,” says Lou.

Lou decided to give it his best shot and to no surprise, he began gaining strength – quickly. In just a matter of months, Lou began gaining 10 to 20 pounds of strength per week . He started by weighing 275 and then within three months was weighing a total of 308.

“In my mind, when I hear someone is 300 pounds –that is not healthy,” he says. “The kicker was, I was gaining a lot of muscle, in a lot of places and quickly.”

Now ready to compete, Lou began his strength-training journey in Canton, OH, by bringing home three state records.

When asked what his later goals for weightlifting are, he replied with a simple, “to break some more world records,” and that is exactly what he did.

Lou went on to compete in a nationwide competition hosted by the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters, (WABDL), located in Las Vegas, NV. Finishing with a satisfying 578lb. dead lift and 486lb. bench press record sent Lou back home to Lafayette, IN with a shiny trophy in hand and two world records.

Not only is Lou an exceptional athlete, he is a coach, husband and father. With his two sons, daughter and loving wife beside him –Lou always finds the strength to persevere.

“At the end of the day, I do it for my kids,” he says. “I have to do something to keep me level headed.”

An Adventure in Area 55

Yesterday I embarked on an unexpected adventure. My friend who was supposed to go with me to the Pacer game could not attend. Not wanting to miss a good game, I decided to go by myself. No big deal right? Well, there are a lot of potential moments of disaster for a blind person going to a stadium by oneself.

 

I had no idea whether I would be successful in making it to the game and back home.  After all, there were a lot of questions that I did not have answers for.  Would the cab drop me off in the right place?  How would I get into Conseco Field House?  Would someone help me find my seat?  Would it be easy for me to get food and a drink?  How would I find the restroom?  Would someone be willing to guide me from my seat to a location where I could catch a taxi after the game?

 

I caught a cab from my home in Fountain Square and headed downtown.  The cost of the cab was a bit more expensive than I felt it should have been, but at least the driver walked me up to a door and found a security guy who took me to a customer service desk. The lady at the desk sent out a call to get some assistance for me. While I waited she attempted to talk Pacer basketball with me, but she really knew very little about the team. No matter, I applaud her effort. A guy named Garth showed up and took me by a concession stand on my way to my seat. I really did not need to go by the concession stand; my season tickets are in the club level so someone would have taken my order, but this way I was assured of getting my traditional popcorn and coke.

 

After Garth helped me find my seat, I began thinking about my dad and all the games that we attended together over the years. It was kind of strange being there alone.

My seats are in the crazy section, Roy Hibert’s area 55. Here the fans rob chants from IU students and come up with a few original ones. When a foreign player went to the free throw line everyone would chant USA! USA! Overpaid! and DC is better! were other amusing sayings yelled by the fans. In my section, most people stand throughout the game and it is like a college atmosphere which is very refreshing since NBA games can be awfully sterile sometimes.

 

I felt at home once the game tipped off. The Pacers jumped out to an early eight point lead and held a slim three point lead at the half.

 

At half time I boldly walked out of my row and a fan came up and showed me where the bathroom was. I came back and found my seat on my own. During the third quarter the Hornets made a run and took the lead.

A co-worker saw me and came by. He and his wife gave me a ride home, plus he tracked down a battery since my battery had run down in my walkman.

 

The fourth quarter saw the teams go back and forth. Roy Hibert had another bad game. He was 1/10 from the floor. He had three rebounds and two turn overs during crunch time. The Hornets scored a basket from the top of the key with 3.9 seconds to go giving them a one point lead. The Pacers advanced the ball after calling a time out. Danny Granger put up a three that rolled off the rim but Mike Dunleavy tipped the ball in at the horn giving the Pacers a one point win!

 

While going to games by myself is not ideal, it was good to know that I can do it.  The Pacer staff was helpful and had I not gotten a ride home, Garth would have made sure I caught a cab.

 

 

Luck of the Irish

 

It was Labor Day weekend.  The sun was shining and the weather was perfect.  It was going to be an incredible day!  Excitedly a friend and I packed a cooler with food and drinks as we prepared to leave and begin our pilgrimage to Notre Dame Stadium.

It was my hope that this day would mark the beginning of a football season of redemption.  Perhaps Notre Dame could make a bowl game in Brian Kelly’s first year.  Maybe the Indiana Hoosiers could score enough points, since they can’t play defense, to make a low level bowl game.  I hoped that the Colts could put together a strong regular season and make a deep run into the NFL playoffs.

It appeared like it was going to be a great football season.  IU had won their first game.  My friend Kari and I witnessed Notre Dame defeat Purdue the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.  My college teams had all gotten off to a good start.

The following weekend the Colts lost to the Houston Texans.  Soon the Colts roster would be decimated with injuries.  Indiana would alternate between playing uninspired games against mediocre opponents or lose in the last second to nationally ranked teams.  Notre Dame’s season has been defined by injuries, difficult losses and the tragic death of a student videotaping a practice.  It would be an understatement in saying that this is not the football season that I was hoping for.

Yet, this weekend I will brave the elements, along with a co-worker and his father, to make one final trip to gaze at Touchdown Jesus, sit in the stadium that Newt Rockne built and cheer Notre Dame on to do the impossible, beat the top ten ranked Utah Utes.

The weather forecast for Saturday is for rain with high temperatures in the 40’s.  It will be damp and chilly.  The possibility exists that Notre Dame will be unable to remain competitive for the entire game, making it feel all the more cold and uncomfortable.  An obvious question that some people have asked me is why?  “Surely,” they say, “you have better things to do on a Saturday than traveling three hours in bad weather to watch Notre Dame likely get blown out by Utah.”  Another question that I find myself often being asked is why, as a blind person, do you bother going to so many sporting events in the first place?

The answers to these questions are simple.  Obviously when you go to a sporting event your purpose in attending is to cheer on your favorite team.  As comfortable as a person might be watching the big game on their couch, enjoying all of the amenities of home, there is nothing better than getting caught up in the atmosphere and excitement of witnessing something live and in person.  Whether you are a fan of Notre Dame or not, or whether you even care about college football, most people acknowledge that experiencing Notre Dame on game day is a unique opportunity.  The rich tradition coupled with the interaction between the team and the student body makes it a special place.  Besides, a real fan cheers on their team regardless of the weather or the type of season they are having.

Whether a person can see or not is not important when attending a ball game.  All 80,000 people in the stadium on Saturday will share the same identity; simply that everyone is a fan of Notre Dame.  When a player is unexpectedly not on the field, or there is a controversial call, a person who is blind and has a radio, suddenly becomes the most important person in their section.  Everyone wants the information that I am getting from the radio broadcast.  Attending a game is not so much about who wins or loses; instead, it is about the shared experience that you have with other fans.

On Saturday morning I will dress in layers and make the long trip up to South Bend.  All the while I will be hoping for the impossible, that Notre Dame can play a near perfect game and somehow upset Utah.  Crazy?  Maybe, but never count out a team that has the luck of the Irish!

 

A Frighteningly Good Time

Welcome back to the Dobbs Blog!

It has been a while since I have written an entry, but I am now comfortable with my added responsibilities here at work and I am excited to start blogging again!  Today I would like to share with you a horrifying and frightening adventure of my trip to Nechropolis, City of Darkness, one of the top 25 haunted houses in the country located here in Indianapolis.

As a general rule, I don’t really celebrate Halloween.  I don’t have any children and I never have candy on Halloween to hand out to trick or treaters.  Last Friday night though, I had nothing to do so a couple of friends and I decided to celebrate Halloween by going to the best known haunted house in Indianapolis.

After purchasing our tickets we stood in a long line waiting to enter the outer chamber.  It was cold and I was lamenting the fact that I did not wear a jacket.  I continued complaining to myself how cold it was when suddenly I quit caring about the cool temperatures.  Something was standing near me.  It was a random monster who had walked up.  He made a groaning sound and when he walked he dragged one leg behind him.  He reminded me of a monster from the old Scooby-Doo cartoons.  He made his groaning sound again.  I took a step and he followed me, continuing to violate my personal space.  I was not scared, but it was a bit unnerving!  He showed me his mask and I discovered that this creature also had some really crazy hair.

Not long after another strange monster-like creature began mingling with the crowd.  This guy wore a top hat.  He wanted to know if I wanted to see his teeth and I quickly declined this frightening invitation.

Just before we entered the outer chamber, a final monster made its way through the crowd.  This monster had red eyes and a set of real crazy horns.  He also came equipped with sound effects.  He sounded like the real deal, an angry monster bent on causing destruction.  I was impressed.

Once we entered the outer chamber my friends and I encountered a witch.  She yelled at us to be quiet and stand on a set of footprints.  She sternly gave us the rules we were to abide by in our journey through the haunted house.  After she concluded her instructions we walked down some stairs into the dark haunted underworld.

Our plan was to walk through three separate haunted experiences.  There was a house, a hotel and a haunted underground mausoleum.  I was hoping to be able to completely distinguish each haunted place and describe what I encountered in great detail.  Unfortunately, there was so much going on and so many things to see that it all became a blur.  There are several highlights though, that I would like to share from my frightening journey.

As we walked through the first haunted house there was loud heavy metal music playing.  It was deafening!  People kept jumping out of things and there were grave stones everywhere.  It seemed like we were traveling through a maze.  I began walking cautiously when we approached a corner because I anticipated things would jump out at us.  I was not disappointed!  My friend who was in front of me kept jumping and trying to run away when various creatures would try scaring her.  Somehow I ended up leading my friends through the haunted house.  A scary guy jumped out at me, saw I was blind and quickly jumped back; his screams of horror silenced by the surprise of a blind guy leading sighted people through the haunted maze.

The second haunted place was the hotel.  The music that was playing attempted to create a sense of anxiety.  You could hear the sound of babies crying and the monsters in this hotel were at their frightening best.  As we journeyed along my friend began yelling out my name.  About two minutes later I felt something on my left shoulder.  Suddenly a voice growled: “Where are you going Shawn?”  I jumped!  I had successfully been scared in a haunted house.  I began laughing hysterically as we pressed on into the darkness.

Throughout the remainder of our time there were several more monsters, strange creatures and frightening experiences.  As we walked back to our car an unexpected thing happened.  Without any warning, a guy with a chain saw came out of the darkness and ran at us!  We screamed and tried running the other direction.  As we slowed down he had somehow caught up with us and I heard a chain saw roaring straight at us again!  That was a great final touch because even though you expect that kind of thing to happen in a horror movie, I did not anticipate that my friends and I would encounter a chain saw wielding mad man after leaving the haunted house.

Excluding a haunted hay ride that I went on a few years ago, I had not been to a haunted house since college.  I had decided that my blindness would take all the fun out of going through a haunted house as most of the scare tactics are visual in nature.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my blindness did not cause me to have any less of an enjoyable experience than my friends who are sighted.

It was truly a fantastic evening and I had a frighteningly good time!

 

Dobbs Blog: iPhones and Fishing!

“I read a study recently that said 98% of college students have a cell phone.  Last week, however, I had an experience that caused me to stop and question the degree that I am willing to trust my beloved iPhone…” Read more here!