becoming your best newsletter - march 2012

8/2/2019 Becoming Your Best Newsletter - March 2012

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Greetings,

Babe Rut h once said, Its hard to bea t a person w ho never gives up.

This quote is an a ppropriate w ay to describe the young man in our

feat ure story this month. Although he has had to deal w ith ma ny difficult

challenges in his life, he never gives up.

Jordan Bartholomew is a young man who has learned to tak e the c ards

he has been dealt and mak e the best of every situation w hile

maintaining an attitude of gratitude.

The following poem, writte n by Jordan, exe mplifies w hat a unique

person he is. The poem is ent itled Mother Oce an.

Everyone is looking for treasure

Some find it, some never do

You can look and see who is still looking

They go by colorsthe ones still looking are blue

But there isnt just blue, all colors of the spectrum fly

Some change c olor when t hey see their trea sure tell them goodbye

See me it t ook a while to figure out what I w as looking for

I neve r realized I w as just knocking on the wrong door

But behind that door I found the ra inbow beyond mea sure

And at the e nd of it there you w ere, my love, my treasure

The following story was w ritten by Adam Norko as it wa s told to him by

Jordan. It w as published on Seaside Va cat ions blog and can be re ad in

its original format by going to:

http://blog.outerbanksvacation.com/category/everyday-magic/page/2/.

We w ould like t o thank Adam for his permission to use t he story.

_______________________________________________________________________________

BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK AT BECOMING YOUR BEST.

Becoming Your Best

Newsletter

Mission:

We a re dedicat ed t o presenting inspiring stories of hope a nd

encourageme nt a bout individuals w ith disabilities.

Tha nk you for your stories and your support!

George M. Graham Jr.

Volume 3, Issue 3

March 2012

BECOMING YOUR BEST

BEC

OMING

YO

UR

BEST

StoriesOfHopeAndE

ncouragement


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My name is J ordan. I w as born April 22, 19 84 on Easter

morning in Warren, Ohio. Tw enty seve n years lat er, Im

living my dream on t he Outer Banks. He res my story of

Outer Banks magic.

I was born cross-eyed with double vision, no depth

percept ion and asthma. Since the n, I have bee n diagnosed

with Epilepsy (seizure disorder), Crohns Disease, ADHD,

Asthma, Arthritis, Autism, and possibly MS.

In school, I wasnt a bad kid, just disruptive and could not

pay at tention to anything. I w ould only do something if I

w as told not to do it. I w as gifted and in special education

at the sam e time, so I had to learn everything on my own.

Growing up, I loved sports (especially basketball), exploring nature, and most of all THE OCEAN! I

played sports, but my health problems caused accidents, surgery, and sickness to ruin my future in

those. The ocean became my focus.

Every year I w ould record Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and I would wat ch them over and

over and over again every single day. My dream job w as to be a marine biologist. I just alw ays had a

deep feeling of peace a nd home w ith the ocean.

Numerous summers w e w ould go to Carolina Beach in Wilmington, but even t hough I loved the ocean,

there it is nothing compared to the Outer Banks to me.

The first time I saw the oc ean all I ca n remember is running into it as fast as I c ould. Even as a young

child I loved to play in the big waves. See ing and being in those w aves w as so glorious to me. Everytime w e left the beac h and went bac k to Ohio, I would become depressed and life would be sucked out

of me until we ret urned to the ocean. I just love wa ter a nd especially waves. As Clay Marzo says,

Waves are toys from God.

I graduate d from high school in 2003 and w ent on to c ollege. I first at te nded Mount V ernon Na zarene

University and played basketball. After one year, I transferred to Y oungstown Sta te University majoring

in Early Childhood Educat ion. I spent a lot of my school time in the hospital bec ause of my healt h

problems and w eak immune system. Plus my health ca nt w ithstand the c old w eat her conditions in

Ohio.

I m ajored in Early Childhood Education beca use it w as the only thing not boring to me. I am like a big

kid, and I have a gift wit h children. I was still in college w hen I moved to the Outer Banks. I w ould work

on the OBX in the summer, go back to school in the fall, and return in the summer until I graduated in

Dece mber of 2009. Then I moved to the Outer Banks permanently.

Before moving to the OBX, I w as completely me dicated for all my medical conditions, and the

medica tions creat ed deep de pression because of the unbalanced chemica ls in my brain. Depression got

so bad I planned suicide for years. Finally I took tha t step and shot myself. The bullet m issed my

pulmonary artery by splitting in half and going around it, saving me from instant death.

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OUTER BANKS EVERYDAY MAGICJORDANS STORY - WRITTEN BY ADAM NORKO

V o l u m e 3 , I s s u e 3 B E C O M I N G Y O U R B E S T


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Although I shot myself, its not substantial c onsidering I have almost died ma ny times before and aft er

that happened. Lets just say being shot hurts a lot, and it is very scary when youre laying there

suffocat ing all I c ould do wa s ask God to spare me, a nd He did.

One year late r in 200 7, I moved to Avon to work and be w here I love, on the ocean. I had never been tothe Outer Banks until I came here in 200 7. When I first came across the bridge it wa s exac tly like a

dream I used to have as a child going across that bridge. But I had never see n it before arriving in 200 7.

I alw ays told my parents I wa s going to live on an island one day. So when I w as offered the chance t o

w ork for Ocean Atlantic Re ntals, I took it. I chose Avon out of all the locat ions of OAR beca use it has

the best wa ves.

I ma de the move t o the Outer Banks on my own, without know ing anyone. It w as a very difficult move

because c hange bothers the autistic ma n very much, but I w as so happy to be free on the sea, and I

never w ante d to lea veand still dont.

At one point early in my adventure, I was living in a hammock in my friends back yard; my bedroom had

become my friends yard. In that hammoc k I w as still happy. Even when my friends w ould come t o wak e

me up during a rain to come sleep inside, I w ould be too out of it resting peacefully in the rain to even

notice. My mom a nd dad will be the first to say t hat I can ma ke any room a mess, and its funny how I

could even make a yard messy. Im happy to say I have my own a partment now .

After graduating, and moving to the Outer Banks perma nently, I put my te acher c ertification to use and

w orked with autistic children at t he elementa ry school, but my healt h caused me to miss too many

days; so now I substitute every now and then. But most of the tim e I spend exploring different lonely

beaches and sea rching for good wa ves a nd surfing.

I love w orking w ith the k ids though. What I enjoy abouttea ching is being with innocent souls that are still fresh

out of heaven and have no prejudices or judgments on you

or others and do nothing but love and ex press themselves

freely. Also, when theyre so young you have a chance to

place something great and w onderful in the c ornerstone of

their being that ca n last their lifetime. T his mea ns you can

mak e a difference in someones life by being a wonderful

loving teac her to a c hild who ma y come from a rough

back ground; it gives them belief and hope in life. All my

health c onditions help me rela te t o all different children

w ell. I have compassion and know how they feel and wha t

the yre truly going through its a gift a nd a curse.

I w as engaged to a local H att eras girl for a while, but I t hink I need to find a girl who is either autistic or

loves the ocea nor both. When I say loves the ocea n, I me an REALLY loves the oce an.

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OUTER BANKS CONTINUED

Volume 3, Issue 3 BECOMING YOUR BEST

All photos in this story are used with permission. Thank you Adam Norko for allowing us to share this

story. Thank you Jordan Bartholomew for sharing your story, poetry and photos.


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When I moved here I just fell in love with surfing. I paddle out when its flat or when its crazy.I just dont

care . I w ant t o be w ithin mother oceans wat ers. She loosens up my joints, muscles, relieves my

headac hes, fixes my balance, a nd on goes the list. Ever since I moved here, I dont spend time constantly

in the hospital like I did in Ohio. The hospital w as my second home; much of my life has been t here. Now I

surf.

I go to the bea ch everyday and even get in the w ate r if there are no wa ves it really is the only thing that

physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc., make s me fe el bett er. With my health now, w alking and standing

are ve ry painful (which many dont rea lize bec ause I dont complain), but in the w ate r that pain drifts aw ay

like a fast moving front. Feeling w eightless just loosens up all my body, and I become one wit h the w ate r.

It is so amazing how healing mother ocean rea lly is; her salty w ate rs are a m iracle, and my life is proof of

this.

I feel so much better because I have a place w here I can

explore and constantly find new t hings every day. The wa rm

w eat her heals me the salt in the air and ocea n are part ofthe hea ling.

I am stronger and in much better shape than w hen I wa s in

Ohio. I a m m ore act ive and so much happier. I still struggle,

but compared to Ohio its night and day.

I a m st arting photography, finding out I can paint, w riting

poetry, and I really got into music when I moved here too my

favorite instrument to play is the harmonica.

My health has come to the point where I cant w ork consistently, so now I m in debt looking for a way I can

be of use and support myself. I am hoping someone will discover my art, poetry, and photography because

I love doing those things, and they allow me a lot of time for my therapy surfing!

I dont k now w hy Im doing what I m doing because Im not mak ing money, but I know there is some re ason

I ha ve c ome as far as I have. Doing something with surfing is my dream job, but its not m y dream job to

mak e m oney for me. I w ant to be able to support myself and use all the rest to help others mainly

children.

There a re people on the Outer Banks that I dont even know w ho

have helped me. M y family has helped me, but my family is not

rich in money, so its a constant worry. Just as God supports the

birds and provides for them and they worry about nothing, Ibelieve somehow, some w ay He w ill provide for me too.

All I can say is aft er all I have been through with my life, its

already been a long shot that I ma de it this far. I only made it

this far bec ause of m y faith; people just dont believe a nymore

and its what w e all need to do. All Ive done is believe with all

my heart and now here I am enjoying toys from God.

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COMING AUGUST 10-11, 201 2 at N ags Hea d, North Carolina

SURFING FOR AUTISM

Registration will begin after East er. You can find out more information by going to

http://www.surfingforautism.org/

See video highlights from Surfing for Autism 2011 by going to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Y6uu1JRV4

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Visit our we bsite - http://w ww .becomingyourbest.com/ and become a friend on Facebook a t Bec oming Your

Best. We appreciate your support in spreading hope and encourageme nt to others.

Some ex amples of photographs take n by Jordan Bartholomew. T hese and other pictures ca n be

purchase d from Jordanconta ct him through his e-mail at: jordanriver77 @gmail.com .

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