Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

Our Land – Fixer

Hi friends!  If you haven’t been following the Our Land series, you’re missing out (in my humble opinion).  It came about because so many of you responded with love and enthusiasm to The Land of Empathy and Wonder.  I very much appreciate your support for each amazing contribution in this new series.  Although they make the rest of my stuff look bad, I have been blessed with amazing authors who allow me to share their work here.

One of those authors, my friend Kerry, is back today.

To refresh your memory, she’s the amazing 19-year old college freshman (soon to be a sophomore as she just finished her final exams – WHOOOP Kerry!) whose writing continually blows me away. She’s going to be famous and you should get to know her now – while you can still say that you “knew her when.”

Kerry provides a fresh, young, brilliant voice.  She manages to create and see Our Land in so many situations and people.  I’m sure you remember her.  She’s

the first person I considered when making this a series.  She kindly authored The Broken People, and today, she’s sharing Fixer.


Fixer

I was born into this broken world nineteen years ago.  It was three months before my due date and I was fighting for my life. The will to live is instinctive.  It’s remarkable really, how a tiny two and a half pound baby will struggle against collapsing lungs in order to breathe.

How she will struggle blindly to stay alive.

Sometimes, all of the prejudice, and all of the brokenness in this world brings me to my knees.  For a fleeting moment, I find myself wondering, “Why? Why did I stay? Why would anyone want to be here?

Compassion. That is why we stay; that one word embodies everything that’s amazing about this world of ours. I nearly lost the chance to live on this crazy, beautiful planet, but I’m so grateful that I’m here today, so grateful that somehow, I knew that life was worth fighting for. I look at the world before me and I see brokenness, yes, but more than that, I see compassion, so much compassion. I see people reaching out to those in pain, whispering, Let me help you.  

People dropping to their knees to pray for more goodness.

I see eight-year-old Andrew, whose body was paralyzed after he was hit by a car, but whose spirit is anything but paralyzed. I see Emily, reaching out a hand to help me to my feet after I have fallen. These people, they show us that life equals empowerment, life equals an opportunity to change the world and to fix the brokenness around us.

When I was three years old, my dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I said, Daddy, I want to be a fixer.

I hear Kristi speak of “Our Land,”  this land of empathy that we are building together, and I realize that we are already fixers.

I am a fixer. You are a fixer.

All of us.

You don’t need to be grown-up to be a fixer.  You don’t need a college degree.

Tucker is a fixer, Boo is a fixer, I am a fixer.

And you, too — you are a fixer. Together, one piece at a time, we’re changing this world, spreading compassion and showing that different is more than okay.

Different is beautiful.

Kerry has spastic diplegia cerebral palsy and is the only girl in a set of triplets (which definitely has its perks…she gets her own bedroom!).  Through her every day interactions and her writing, Kerry truly makes a difference by spreading compassion and understanding.  Her writing is beautiful and insightful and just plain awesome.  See more of it on her personal blog Transcending CP.

Editor’s note: in the photo above, don’t you just love her fuzzy hair and the fact that the preemie sized diaper totally dwarfs her?  EEEP!


  • Janine Huldie - Wow, Kristi you are totally right and Kerry is truly amazing (a fixer indeed). I am once again am blown away and left feeling so overwhelmed with emotions from reading her words. Thank you for sharing with us Kerry and thank you again Kristi for doing this wonderful series!!May 22, 2013 – 10:38 amReplyCancel

  • Lori Lavender Luz - Beautiful post, with much to think about. Kerry and Kristi, thanks for helping me to see things in a new way.May 22, 2013 – 10:43 amReplyCancel

  • Maggie Amada - Beautiful. You know, I see things a little differently now than I saw them even five years ago. As we live and learn, I like to think most of us become more tolerant of the choices of others, we discover that we know less than we thought we did.

    People are different and wonderful and varied. We just have to be ready and willing to see it. We have to be willing to accept that one of the best feelings in the world is reaching out to another and knowing that we were of service. I really enjoy this series. Thanks for hosting it.May 22, 2013 – 10:49 amReplyCancel

  • Dana - Different IS beautiful. I would like to emblazon that phrase on all the doors of all the middle schools and high schools. I’m going to embrace my role as a fixer – beautiful post, Kerry!May 22, 2013 – 12:14 pmReplyCancel

  • Kenya G. Johnson - Simply beautiful Kerry!May 22, 2013 – 12:33 pmReplyCancel

  • kelli - Kerry I really needed to read this today! Thank you, thank you for reminding me about people like YOU and Kristi. You are a fixer and a darn good one at that:)May 22, 2013 – 1:19 pmReplyCancel

  • Emily - I’m going to remember that term from now on — a “fixer.” I just love that. And love your writing too.May 22, 2013 – 1:40 pmReplyCancel

  • Stephanie @ Mommy, for real. - That was stunning. Kerry, you have a gift. Such a strong voice and compelling heart. You are going to do great things in the world. Kristi, props to you for recognizing and sharing such a brilliant talent.May 22, 2013 – 4:26 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Stephanie,
    She IS going to do great things, I just know it. I lucked out that she wants to contribute here.May 22, 2013 – 5:03 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Emily,
    I love the term “fixer” as well. Kerry is brilliant.May 22, 2013 – 5:04 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Kelli,
    Ditto to Kerry reminding us that there are people like her – fixers!May 22, 2013 – 5:04 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Kenya,
    🙂May 22, 2013 – 5:05 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Dana,
    Great idea about sharing it with the middle schools and high schools. Such an important lesson to remember and those ages can be so difficult.May 22, 2013 – 5:06 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Maggie,
    I, too, see things so differently now than I did five years ago. Before having Tucker, I was so unaware of the whole special needs world – and I am so much more open and tolerant and reach out to people in a way that I haven’t done before.May 22, 2013 – 5:07 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Lori,
    Thank YOU.May 22, 2013 – 5:07 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Janine,
    She does that to me, too. Thanks so much.May 22, 2013 – 5:08 pmReplyCancel

  • Jean - Kristi and Kerry, this was great and I cannot agree more that we are “fixers.” This post and series are just one very beautiful part of it. Glad my children are going to grow up in a world that you two are “fixing”May 22, 2013 – 8:31 pmReplyCancel

  • Deb @ Urban Moo Cow - Beautiful. Those photos gave me chills. xoMay 22, 2013 – 8:41 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Jean,
    Glad you’re raising your children to help fix the broken world! Thank you for that.May 22, 2013 – 8:53 pmReplyCancel

  • Kristi - Deb,
    <3May 22, 2013 – 8:53 pmReplyCancel

  • Jen - You’re right. She will be famous! I can see her speaking at schools, getting out there and evening the playing field. She is already a fixer!May 22, 2013 – 10:21 pmReplyCancel

  • Joy - Wonderfully written. I am always glad to see that there are still so many good people out there, helping others and caring for others. We should never forget that!May 23, 2013 – 9:47 amReplyCancel

  • Kimberly - We sure are fixers…it’s just too bad that we don’t realize that no matter how small we think we are, we can make a huge difference…fixers.
    I like that.
    Beautiful.May 24, 2013 – 1:00 pmReplyCancel

  • Melissa - I love this series so much, and how wonderful to bring back the person who kickstarted it all! Kerry, you have such a refreshing voice as well as an optimistic outlook that you remind us old-timers to keep going on this path to fixin’ things. 🙂May 27, 2013 – 1:25 amReplyCancel

  • Katia - Kerry, I agree with everyone. This is so succinctly and perfectly put and you express complex ideas with such ease. I loved your post and I, too, shall remember the term ‘fixer’. 🙂May 29, 2013 – 9:42 amReplyCancel

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