My Reminder…Always Take Chances In Life
After Boston Marathon Bombing, Mery Daniel Is Living
Mery Daniel was in the right place at the wrong time.
On a beautiful day that should have been marked by victorious emotions, shouts of joy, and celebratory hugs from those
Mery Daniel
who came to participate and those who came to watch the Boston Marathon, Mery, like so many others, came to learn time is a precious gift.
The bombing spared her life, but the blast ripped apart her legs, shearing off her right calf and forcing doctors to amputate her left leg above the knee.
In a Boston Globe article, Erik Moskowitz told of Mery’s childhood dream of becoming the first physician in her family. She was 17 when she moved from Haiti to Brockton with her father whom she had not seen since childhood. She was a stand out student and role model to others. Later she went on to attend medical school, marry and have a daughter. She was preparing for her final medical licensing exams when she attended the Boston Marathon that fateful May morning. And, in one brief moment, her life as knew it would never be the same.
The next six weeks were spent in surgeries and hospitals. She was only able to see her terrified five-year-old daughter three times. Her life journey had taken a sharp turn. Extraordinary challenges faced her ahead.
Bills were mounting. She needed to learn a new way of getting around, and needed to find a new place to call home that was accessible for her new lifestyle. There were times when she forgot she was minus a leg except for the fact that her phantom pains were almost constant.
Mery craved mobility. She desperately wanted her life back. She was determined. People around her had equal resilience. She learned to get around with a prosthetic and hand-cycle. Bonnie St. John, an African-American amputee and paralympic skiing medalist helped created a fund raising site to help ease some of the burden. The day after Mery’s first steps, chi
ldren who rode the school bus her father drove participated in a walkathon to raise $8,275 for her.
Mery’s next goal? To enter an athletic race. It had been on her To Do list for a very long time but just was something she hadn’t gotten to yet. That needed to change.
And change it did. Mery recently completed her fourth race riding her hand-cycle, the longest being a 27-mile ride to help veterans…longer than the Boston Marathon.
Paw Joggers Run To Benefit Cincinnati Dog Rescues
I have always had a love for dogs. Our home in fact was never without one growing up. Jolie, our poodle, was a dear and special friend to me until she died at the age of about 18. Now training dogs as a second career is a real passion for me.
And for Billlie Mendoza, owner of Paw Joggers, keeping dogs healthy and happy is an equal passion. I am so impressed that 
now, this owner of a successful dog walking (and jogging) company is turning her business skills toward raising money for our area’s important rescue organizations.
The first annual Paw Joggers Run will be this Sunday, October 20 at Sharon Woods (11450 Lebanon Rd, Sharonville, OH 45241). There is both a 5K and a 2K course for runners and walkers. It is a pet-friendly and family event so bring your favorite four-legged friend with you. Registration that morning begins at 7:30 am and the race begins at 9 am.
What I love is that 100% of the registration fees ($35 to $35) will go toward one of 24 qualified organizations from our Cincinnati area animal welfare community. You can select a beneficiary as part of your online registration process if you’d like. NOTE that there is a $15 canine registration fee per dog.
The Paw Joggers Animal Community Fund (Paw Joggers ACF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the local animal welfare community through events, awareness, and monetary donations. The Paw Joggers ACF and its events are powered solely by 
volunteers.
Register to walk, run, or VOLUNTEER through the Paw Joggers Rescue Run website http://pawjoggersrescuerun.com
Mercy Neighborhood Ministries Is Improving Cincinnati Lives
Congratulations to these determined, hard working students! After an intensive, three-week program, they are recent graduates of the Mercy Neighborhood Ministries (MNM) Home Care Aide Training Class.
Many of the participants join the class having experience in taking care of a loved one. Others may be transitioning from being unemployed or underemployed to starting a viable new career.
How empowering it is for them to learn new skills in a positive environment and gain renewed confidence. After graduation MNM has seen a high success rate of helping them find full or part time jobs in neighborhoods where they live.
Home Care Aide Training is just one of many programs and services of Cincinnati nonprofit Mercy Neighborhood Ministries. Its website says it promotes the empowerment of individuals and families through programs that address their immediate needs, foster self-reliance, promote holistic health, and advocate for social justice. Other services include a monthly food pantry, crisis assistance, a grandparent’s support group, senior services, ABLE/GED classes and more.
Taste of the Neighborhood
On October 27, MNM will hold ist annual Taste of the Neighborhood from Noon until 3 pm at Purcell Marian High School (2935 Hackberry St Cincinnati, OH 45206). The event is free and open to the public.
This year’s participating restaurants include Eli’s BBQ, Kitchen 452, Eat Well Café and Take Away, Skyline Chili, Giminetti Baking Company, The Brew House, Café deSales, and Parkside Café with caramel apple cake from Bon Bonerie and Frisch’s pumpkin pie.
Children can enjoy strolling performances by Circus Mojo and take part in a scavenger hunt, costume parade, making balloon animals, and face painting while adults enjoy music by bluegrass band, Northbound Motion, and bid on gift baskets stuffed with great goodies and gift certificates to area restaurants, museums, performances, and sporting events.
If you can’t attend the Taste of the Neighborhood, you can buy a gift basket or certificate online now! Just visit www.mercyneighborhoodministries.org and click on the “Buy an Auction Item Now” link on the home page.
People Working Cooperatively Raising Money For Veterans
In her 98 years, Anna has seen great sacrifice. She has also seen great heroism. During World War II, the woman who now lives in a modest home in Bond Hill was known as a trailblazer. She was a member of one of two units of African American Army nurses in Atlantic City serving amputees returning from the European Theater.
“It was interesting work,” she said. “Some of the men were so sad that they couldn’t go back into action. They wanted to fight. They felt that they had failed because they were wounded.”
Those are memories Anna will never forget. Today, as her own health is waning, she is cared after by her 57 year old daughter. Still, with her mobility an issue, getting around isn’t as easy as it once was. And home repair bills can be costly.
People Working Cooperatively, a Cincinnati nonprofit that provides professional home repairs and modifications to low income older adults and homeowners with disabilities in the Greater Cincinnati area, has fixed a like in Anna’s ceiling. PWC also installed a ramp and handrails, new flooring and other work.
Running through November 11, People Working Cooperatively’s Ramp It Up for Veterans’ campaign is trying to raise $500,000 to assist the 400 plus veterans in the Cincinnati area on its waiting list for critical home repairs. You can text-to-donate a $10 donation by texting the letters PWC to 80888 or give online at www.pwchomerepairs.org.
