We are happy to report that, miraculously, Day One is in the books without having nearly killed anyone, and all my medical supplies remained securely, albeit overly bungee corded, inside the car-top carrier. Safety first, that’s the motto of the guy paralyzed from the neck down after launching himself off a sketchy pile of snow. As opposed to last time, this trip…
Author: Kenny Salvini
A quadriplegic since 2004 after a snow skiing accident left me paralyzed from the neck down, I have spent the majority of the last decade searching for a sense of purpose. In the summer of 2005, my blog, titled "Typical Guy, Atypical Situation", was featured on the MSN homepage and became somewhat of a viral hit, which led to a few small collaborations with Microsoft. After taking a five-year sabbatical from the website in 2007, life's trajectory seems to be leading me back in that general direction as I look to create opportunities for people in situations similar to mine to share their stories. My hope is to build a community where a group of people in seemingly dire circumstances are able to pool their collective experience, strength and hope in order to successfully achieve an enhanced, more accessible life.
Guess What Time It Is!
Oh yes, this is happening. Another road trip is set to commence in just a few hours as the Bobbsey Twins, my lady friend and I all pile into the Silver Bullet and head south for the second time this year. This time we are bound for Las Vegas, where a national paralysis conference awaits. I’m sure it will be a…
Love Will Find a Way
If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m a big quote guy. One of my absolute favorites is attributed to Theodore Parker that says, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” I got the tattoo below of song lyrics in my handwriting a couple years ago that, I think, along with Parker’s century-old words, really…
This Guy.
He is the ultimate fixer, a jack of all trades. He hit home runs on the ball field, won races on the motocross track and built his family a home with his own bare hands. He’s fabricated, repaired or repurposed everything from houses, dune buggies and racecars to elevators, computers and wheelchair parts. He’s an expert with…
From Another Mother
I was seven years old when my family moved to the Lake Tapps area that would be my home from then on. That’s when I met a kid named Kurtis Sandmire. We were both the tiniest kids in the second grade and our initials were “K.S.” but that’s pretty much where our similarities ended at the time. While he…
She Held Me Up
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I found this one of me and my mom on Kristen’s phone after she passed. While it may not be the most flattering shot of either of us, I think it says just about all there is to say about what she’s meant to me these last 35 years.Happy…
Final Triplog – Epilogue
After devoting all of Saturday to cover the 826 miles between San Francisco and home, and then losing most of Sunday to regaining my bearings with sleep and unpacking, it is pretty safe to say that, by Monday, the vacation hangover had officially set in. It’s difficult to readjust to daily life after having been on a 15-day roller…
Triplog Day 14 — How Far We’ve Come
Of course the last real day of vacation would save the best experience for last. I got to spend the afternoon in the spinal cord injury rehab gym at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center with Kathy Kobayashi, an Occupational Therapist who helped my good friend Ian Mackay during his inpatient stay there almost 6 years ago. I brought a…
Triplog Day 13 — Hitting 105 on the 101 and Other Fun
It was just before 9 AM when someone began pounding outside our hotel room. Still half asleep, Alicia staggered her way to the door expecting to find an overzealous housekeeper or an incensed neighbor on the rampage for us being a little too loud the night before. She ripped the door open, a warm sliver of light slashing through the room and lo and…
Triplog Day 12 — Nailed It
We already know that bad things happen in threes. So it goes without saying that we’d been waiting since the third day of the trip for that last straw to appear. Well today may have finally delivered. After bidding farewell to the two octogenarian lovebirds, we started our slow trek north towards home. We made a brief pitstop in Ventura for some shakes…
Kenny Salvini 