Photo courtesy of Don Teeter

A HAPPY ACCIDENT

One evening towards the beginning of March, I received an email with the subject line “a picture for you.” Checking the name to make sure I knew the sender, I opened the attachment to find the picture above. I liked the picture but didn’t know the story behind it. So, being ever-resourceful, I replied to the sender thanking him for the picture and asking what the kite said, who was flying it and where. I was expecting just a couple of sentences as the answer but what I received was a gem of a story that I’d like to share with everyone.

Don, a former Indiana resident now living in Florida, explained that he was overly tired when he sent the picture and, quite frankly, was a bit clueless as to how he had included me in the mailing. The picture shows a young man flying the kite that Don had made specifically for him. Here is the story.

Don and the young man’s mother had attended the same high school in Decatur but in different graduating classes. The young man was born with Downs Syndrome. During a mini-gathering of Don’s fellow schoolmates near the Sarasota area last year Don met the woman’s son and ended up giving him a snowflake kite. It was an immediate hit. Seeing his reaction, Don decided to make a special kite for their visit this year. The della porta he made had the words “Andy & Friends Coney Bar” appliquéd on it. The reason? That will be the name of a new business establishment the young man’s family hopes to open sometime this summer, located in the Decatur area, and designed to be operated by people with challenges. They decided on a hot dog shop because, as Don says, “that area has a long-running love of Coney dogs so I feel it’s going to be a success. … It took me several days to finish the project but the smile on his face when he saw it made it all worthwhile.”