Yesterday was the first time Carter had snow skied post TBI. It has been almost three years. He was a little unsettled at the start of the day, and told me several times he didn’t want to do a black run. I agreed, and told him I would make sure the instructor understood that. We got both kids set with their lesson and left them to get caught up. Around mid day, I spotted Carter and an instructor on a moderately, hard blue run. We stopped and talked and his very kind instructor invited who invited us to ski with them. The man was so good with Carter; encouraging, patient, kind, reassuring, but most of all affirming him for what he did well and making no big deal of the little struggles that would arise. Trevor and I got to talk to the instructor briefly during lunch and we were not sure how, but it was as if he had read the book of Carter. He knew his history, his strengths and weaknesses. After lunch we left them to work until the end of the day. When we picked him up at 2:45 he was beaming. “Mom, I did a black!” What a change from the morning. Later at dinner, my sister in-law told me what really happened yesterday morning and it brought tears to my eyes. Carter’s initial instructor moved him out of the teen group to an adult group because the teen group would mostly be doing black runs. Once he got to the top with the adult group, my SIL said he froze. Complete fear struck him and he would not move. Then, somehow he lost a ski and could not get it back on. The instructor asked my SIL, what is wrong with him, and she said, well you do know he has had a traumatic brain injury. He said, “no!” Why wasn’t I told that? The initial teacher was told but she didn’t pass the information on to him. So the instructor called in the man who ended up teaching Carter. He is a certified adaptive skiing trainer. More than all his qualifications, though, he made Carter believe in himself, feel comfortable, capable and at total ease. He brought him from the point of stuck in a state of fear to skiing a black run in just a matter of a few hours. My point in telling you all this is that our words, actions and how we treat people ascends all barriers, blocks and struggles. We have the ability to help people stay stuck or soar. It does not matter what the struggle is, the right teacher, coach, friend or caring person has the ability to change the landscape of a person’s day, even their life. I pray I remember to use my words of encouragement, affirmation, belief and comfort to always build people up because there are too many that have been broken down. This mama’s heart went to bed a little teary last night, but definitely with a smile.❤