Simple Sometimes it is so simple—a win for a beleaguered and treasured football team and a Halloween party. In these moments, we step back into traditions to reclaim our future by being present in the moment. For Mikelle, her brother, and his family, Sunday’s Bronco football team win in London renewed their hopes for a …
Simple, Basic, Fun Ways to Win Back our Happiness. Read More »
Everyone Needs a Little Time Away. Mikelle’s Vacation. Heck, it has been a long haul with Covid. We were getting cabin fever and decided to hightail it out of the city and into the mountains to a real cabin in the high country. Gone is the traffic, the hustle and heat of summer in the …
“Never let the things you cannot do prevent you from doing the things you can.” -Coach John Wooden Oh my goodness, the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel grows brighter by the day. I don’t know about you but Mikelle has visions of unlimited purse shopping at Target, endless coffee chats with …
Creating Community in the Time of Social Distancing. Mikelle looks longing out our second-story window reminiscing about the days when her routine included a trip down the street to the neighborhood coffee shop. There she gets her people and caffeine fix. This is her well-loved routine. Pablos in the morning, perhaps, a Starbucks in …
Fifteen years ago, a thoughtful high school teacher introduced Mikelle Learned and Jerome Stewart, she had a hunch these two might become the best of friends. She was right. Jerome played football, ran track and was a well-liked senior at East High School. He, like Mikelle, was a recent transfer student from another high school. …
Many of you, who came of age in the 1970s like me, remember being inspired by a television commercial. It was a Coca Cola commercial, where a lighted candle appears on the screen, and we see a young, beautiful woman singing, “I’d Like the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony,” the camera pans out. We …
Bless our hearts. The heart, our capable and vigorous organ pumps our life force throughout our body. It pumps while we wake, slumber, worry, laugh, hug, quarrel, growl at traffic, touch a lover’s hand, sip hot coffee, savor a mint julep, or a tangy sassy margarita. As Christmas approaches, our hearts are focused on family, …
Recently, Mikelle and I had the honor of interviewing Jim Warne, film producer of the documentary, 7th Generation. I met Jim at the Washington Initiative on Supported Employment annual Community Summit last June. She attended is a powerful session on disability, the importance of community and tradition and learned more about the terrible trail of …
Jim Warne, Ogalala Lakota film producer meets Mikelle! Read More »
To Mom on your 90th Birthday. Your life made mine and mine have shaped Mikelle’s and has sewn into the hearts of many to live life well and to shine beautiful. The women who come before us help us today as special needs moms. A tribute to you. You showed us how to stitch our …
Saying Goodbye to Liz… By Taylor Mason, Shining Beautiful Team Member When you work with an individual as unique as Mikelle Learned as long as I have (six years, yikes!) you come to learn some very important things about the other employees in your team. Taking care of Mikelle day to day certainly requires a …
