The Best High Fives Ever!

The Best High Fives Ever!!

And Joshua proceeded to high five every girl on the opposing team's bench.

A fabulous bowl for Joshua!
And I loved our high fives!

To know Joshua, was to know he also loved high fives!!  And to greet Joshua meant you never knew if you were going to get a hug, a high five or a handshake!  But that was so fun!!  And he was equally enthusiastic about each greeting!  He would most likely be clumsy in his high five greetings, but he made up for it in enthusiasm, in his loud and infectious laugh, and in his pure love and joy that accompanied all of his greetings!

A favorite memory is told by my brother, who was the Girls Basketball Coach at Pleasant Grove High School:  "I think everybody's talked about how Joshua loved to give high fives.  Well, in the middle of a game, Selma was late bringing Joshua.  I was standing up – I can't sit down during a game.  And I look over at the entrance, and I see Selma and Joshua walk in.  And Joshua proceeded to high five every girl on the opposing team's bench."

Opposing teams, strangers and even people who were mean, didn't stop Joshua from sharing his love and enthusiasm.  I remember this moment well, and was so proud and happy to be his Mom!!

Here are a few pictures of high fives caught on camera!!

Bowling with my brother,
Uncle Doug Larson
(High fives even came after gutter balls!!)

High fives for my brother,
Uncle Carl Larson who was Joshua's computer fixer hero!
(He had probably already given the high five!)

Field of Dreams

Our own "Field of Dreams"
Adapted T-Ball Begins - 1998


That first season was so magical! 
 We had about 64 children sign up from ages 5 to 22, and created 8 teams. 
We called our beautiful grass area at Westmore Elementary School our “Field of Dreams.” 

Helping Joshua run to his base!

As Joshua’s Mom, I was always looking for ways Joshua could participate in “normal” activities. When we moved to the Salt Lake area, he was old enough for sports.  Since he loved running, throwing, and he loved balls, t-ball seemed just the thing.  Miraculously, there was an adapted t-ball in Salt Lake City which I eagerly signed him up for.  This was a special league of player with disabilities from throughout the valley, and we had a great time.  Joshua did have to be watched particularly close, since he often could be seen running straight out to Centerfield, toward the street! The coaches were kind, loving and patient with him.  

Jumping to Uncle Mark while playing outfield!

In 1995 we moved to Utah County.  Shortly after our move I started looking for adapted leagues in our new area but could not find any.  I started contacting various sports directors in cities throughout Utah County to ask if they would consider beginning an adapted t-ball league.  Working part-time, and raising 5 children at this time, didn’t always give me the time to do this, but finally I got a yes!!  Mark Lindsay, director at Orem Recreation, asked me to come in to his office and give a presentation.  I quickly organized some pictures and information from the Salt Lake City league and met with Mark.

Giving Joshua a high-five when he reaches home plate

We had a great first meeting!  Under Mark’s leadership and expertise, the first adapted t-ball league of Utah County was organized in May of 1998!

That first season was so magical!  We had about 64 children sign up from ages 5 to 22, and created 8 teams.  We called our beautiful grass area at Westmore Elementary School our “Field of Dreams.”  I was honored to the coach of Joshua’s team and loved every single minute!!  The players had various disabilities , various levels of playing, various attention spans and beautiful faces!!  

Joy and love overflowed in abundance every Saturday at our Field of Dreams.

I loved every minute of my 8 years as the Adapted T-Ball Coach for Orem Recreation.

Joshua's 1st TBall Trophy - 1998

Deseret News Article
"A big homerun from the heart"

By Sharon M. Haddock, Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, June 30 1998 12:00 a.m. MDT

The pitcher tagged the runner, but the player made it to first base anyway, grinning all the way.

The girl racing to third base overshot the mark and inadvertently made it to home plate, passing up her teammate standing resolutely on third.But that's all right. Nobody minds.

In fact, what's important at the T-ball games for the Orem Handicapped Youth League isn't a rule or a score.

It's love and kindness and joy.

You can see it in the faces all over the field. The coaches, planted strategically at every base and critical points in between, are as thrilled as the players when a smacked ball flies over the right fielder's head. They're more than happy when a player on the opposing team makes a nice play that theoretically puts one of their players out.

The parents are exultant as kids who rarely get an opportunity to succeed make a home run.

The players are just plain having fun.

"It's so much fun, now we're going for a soccer and a basketball league," said Selma Eisenstat.
Eisenstat is the parental force behind the creation of the handicapped T-ball league. She mentioned the idea to Orem recreation wellness manager Mark Lindsay last fall because she wanted her son, Joshua, to have a place to play.

"In Salt Lake, we usually had 30 in the league," Eisenstat said.

"Here, we've had more kids than we thought we would. We're up to 68 kids and eight teams."

The league plays every Saturday morning at Westmore Elementary between 9 and 11 a.m. on two fields. Players are between the ages of 5 and 18.

They pay $25 to register. That covers the cost of providing staff and equipment, T-shirts, team pictures and a 5-inch individual trophy for participation.

Some are physically handicapped. One uses a walker to run the bases. Others, like Eisenstat's son, are autistic or hyperactive. All of them need the emotional and physical outlet the games provide.

"We don't let them strike out," Eisenstat said. "We don't keep score."

Eisenstat said the kids really seem to be enjoying the entire exercise.

"One kid picked me up when he made the base," she said. "It's very inspirational, a lot of hugs and high-fives."

"I just want it to keep going."

Lindsay says the success of the program's first year will very probably lead to the initiation of other programs.

"There's nothing like this in Utah County," he said. "We've had a handicapped child in the regular teams but not a strictly adapted handicapped program."

Lindsay said the response to the program has surprised him.

"To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when Selma first approached me about this," Lindsay
said. "We'd never done anything like this."

Memories to last a lifetime!
#fieldofdreams, #oremrecreation

Adventures in Church

1,101 Church Meetings --

A Natural Greeter

To sum it up, there was no need to fear that we would ever

fall asleep when Joshua was in Church! 

I don’t really know how many Sunday meetings Joshua has attended.  I do know that Joshua regularly attended Church for almost 23 years, so I did a rough calculation taking into account sick days, etc., and it could be close to 1,101 meetings.  That also calculates to at least 1,101 stories!  Here are a "few" of the many!

A typical Joshua look -- ready to run!
With my siblings:
Cynthia, Julie, John, Nancy & Vickie

Joshua occasionally attended church with my brother, Glenn and his wife, Debbie.   Joshua loved being with Glenn, Debbie, Chelsey and Michael.  Glenn took Joshua with him to the Priesthood Meeting for the men in the congregation.  When the Bishop conducted the meeting, he welcomed the visitors, and after welcoming Joshua, he stated that “no one will be falling asleep in class today.  Joshua’s here.”  That was definitely true.  If you sat next to or near Joshua in church, you were sure to get countless hugs, high fives or handshakes, a program or hymnbook given to you or thrown at you, and generally many pulls and tugs from this handsome young man.  To sum it up, there was no need to fear that we would ever fall asleep when Joshua was in Church! 

Joshua truly loved to say hi and greet people.  The funny thing about it was that Joshua was so intent on doing this that it did not matter to him if the meeting was already fully underway.  I can remember the look of surprise of the bishopric of a ward we were visiting, when right in the middle of the meeting, Joshua just stood up, spotted these three men sitting at the front of the congregation, and determinedly made his way over to them, and then separately and enthusiastically shook each bishopric member’s hand.  It might have been at this same meeting, or another one, when Joshua also made his way to the very back of the congregation, and proceeded to plop himself down right next to a gentleman who was sitting all alone.  Joshua shook his hand, tried to tell him something in his Joshua language, and stayed sitting beside him for just a few minutes.  I could tell that this man was very touched.  Later in the program, the speaker told the members of the congregation that those of you who were able to shake Joshua’s hand that day had been blessed.  There was no doubt that they truly had been blessed.  I loved to watch the love in Joshua’s face and in his handshake pour out into the person who was greeting.  It never took long for that person’s face to equally light up with joy and love for this very special young man.

Joshua also added appreciation to the special musical numbers performed in Sacrament Meeting.  We have beautiful musical numbers in the middle of Sacrament Meeting.  It always made me smile at the conclusion of a beautiful musical number, as Joshua would  loudly clap his hands loudly together, and call out “yaaaa.”  This always brought smiles and laughter from the congregation.  This was especially interesting because Joshua was usually hyperactive, busy and distracted during these musical numbers.  So although he didn’t appear to be paying attention, he certainly was, as the timing of his loud approval was right on cue.  After one of these particular clapping moments, I was so appreciative of one speaker in particular because the first words he spoke were to acknowledge Joshua’s verbal approval.  This inspired speaker from the pulpit “Joshua, that’s exactly how I feel about that music.”

As I struggled to find ways for Joshua to be able to continue participating in church, without too much disruption to the congregation, I talked with our bishop, Bishop Brent Palmer, about Joshua helping to pass out programs.  Not only did my bishop embrace the idea, but he made it an official calling for Joshua and even had him stand up in front of the ward and receive a sustaining vote.  This new calling to hand out programs turned out to be a huge blessing as Joshua would sit on his chair right by the entrance, alongside either myself, or another young man, as he would happily perform his duty.  Joshua loved to shake each person’s hand as they came in the door, and then the question of the day would be if Joshua was in the mood to give that person a program.  There were many times when I would have to slip a person their program after they passed Joshua because Joshua gave them a handshake only, but not a program.  And if Joshua saw me give them a program, he might get upset because for whatever reason, in his unique mind, they were not to get a program.  There were also many times when Joshua’s frustration would catch up to him, and suddenly the programs would all go flying to the floor as Joshua’s extremely quick arm threw the programs faster than I could catch them.  I think people enjoyed the adventure of what they would get at the door – a handshake, a thrown program, or a high five and a happy and endearing laugh.  Joshua was also not very fast at handing out the programs, so often there was a line at the door.  But no one seemed to mind as they knew what a special privilege it was to shake such a wonderful young man’s hand, and see the big grin and his eyes light up as Joshua gave them a high five!