One Step at a Time, Everything Gets Done

I met Mike and his family in 2014. We were attending the annual USA Hockey Disabled festival in Marlborough, MA. Our team, the Wings of Steel Sled Hockey team, needed a goalie. USA Hockey drafted Mike to play for us. 
Mike had just begun to explore Sled Hockey and had not yet played with a team let alone between the pipes. He played with the Wings the entire weekend and returned to Ohio as a Wing of Steel. And we looked past the fact that he and his family are Steelers and Pirates fans.We have followed Mike and his twin from High School graduation to their college experience. It’s kind of like watching a favorite nephew on a rich path of life experience. So as not to wax on too much, after reading the article below I asked him if I could share his piece that appeared in Kentwired. 

It speaks true from the voice of a person born with a disability who does not live his life as a disabled person. He is an extraordinarily “differently abled” person. 

Kudos, Iron Mike. Thanks for sharing your positive insight.

Here is his article below, and the link , http://www.kentwired.com/article_149c305a-78e3-11e9-9cc6-57809630e31a.html.

Opinion: One step at a time

·         Michael Reiner

·         May 17, 2019 Updated May 20, 2019

My name is Michael Reiner, but my friends call me Iron Mike. 

My family and friends know that I love sports, WWE, and a good cheeseburger. If you have a recliner close by after I’ve eaten a cheeseburger, it’s game over. 

I live with my wonderful family in my hometown of Wellsville, Ohio. My mom, Paula, is my hero and my biggest inspiration and my dad, Bill, is my biggest fan. Then I have my twin brother Mitchell who is my PlayStation 4 partner, roommate, and best friend. And lastly we have our 6-year-old German shepherd, Bell. She protects our house and makes sure to bark at anyone and everything (by the way, Bell doesn’t like hats of any kind). 

However, as the great Rocky Balboa used to say, “Life ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.” Mitchell and I were born three months premature. I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. It is a condition that tightens the muscles in my body. 

I do not let my disability slow me down. In fact, my family and I say that I am differently-abled because I can do everything in different ways. I’ve gone from walkers, to quad canes, to a wheelchair, all the way to forearm crutches. I went through 12 surgeries in 2010 and I’ve been in great shape ever since. Life has definitely been a journey. 

Here I am in kindergarten standing with one of my quad canes. I feel pretty cool in this photo. We went to go get ice cream the day this photo was taken, so that must be the reason why I felt rather cool.

Courtesy Michael Reiner

My dream is to one day work in Pittsburgh as a sports writer or broadcaster. My family and I love to go to Pirates and Steelers games. I hope to be successful in Pittsburgh so that I can continue to go to more games and enjoy the atmosphere of "The Steel City."

I just finished my junior year in the Kent State journalism program. The experiences that I’ve had with Kent State’s television station TV2 and radio station Black Squirrel Radio have been top-notch. I have learned so many things so far that I will carry with me for the rest of my career. 

I had a great semester as the Tuesday morning sports anchor for Kent State University's TV station, TV2. This coming fall, I will serve as Portage Trail County (PTC) Director. I will oversee all high school sports news coverage in Portage County.

Courtesy: Michael Reiner

Now it’s time to put the skills I’ve learned to good use. I start my internship at a local news station on Monday, May 20, and life is very, very exciting at the moment. 

I will have to add 15 minutes to prepare for my commute in the morning. This won’t be for breakfast, I already have time scheduled for that. The extra 15 minutes will be for me to button my shirt, tuck it in, and adjust my belt. These tedious things can be difficult, but they just take me a little bit of time. 

It took one step at a time during track practice for me to compete in the OHSAA State Wheelchair track events. It took one step at a time for me to qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the eighth grade. And yes, it took one step at a time to be able to walk on my own two feet. 

Everything gets done, one step at a time. 

I believe that other people with disabilities have the same mindset as I do. We all overcome struggles and move forward in our own way. Even though things can get difficult at times, I wouldn’t have my life any other way. 

Michael Reiner is a columnist. Contact him at mreiner4@kent.edu. 

What if Game of Thrones is Just a Game?

What was there to be disappointed with Season 8 Episode 5 of Game of Thrones? I was not disappointed. The show went pretty much as I expected.

The hand wringing and wrenching angst of Tyrion and Jon Snow over the last three weeks made it obvious they weren’t as confident as they claimed to be about ‘their Queen’ and her oncoming volatile mental state, which was predicted early on with the oft repeated line of her father, the Mad King before his own death, “Burn them all”.

I won’t wax on about character arcs and how the Game of Thrones writers and company should have played this out. I enjoyed the ride and will see it through to the end and over and over until I cancel my HBO subscription. My personal investment of time with this series has been one of self-indulgent suspension of reality.

 If I find fault with any entity it is with HBO. HBO should have expanded the 6 weeks to 10. The shortened 6 week schedule I believe is partly the basis for the full on fabulous CGI festival that has been showcased – I’ve seen some of the set construction for demolition and the green screen at Titanic Studios in Belfast, it is a mammoth production site. No dialogue or scene set up was ever going to do justice to the special effects work.

So, here is what I am proposing as to how the last episode MIGHT end. Feel free to chime in as to whether you agree or disagree.

If the title of the last episode is titled, “Spring after the long Winter”:

• Arya will kill  Daenerys for destroying Kings Landing and all the innocents.
• Sansa will take over the throne, since Jon and Bran don’t want it. Tyrion will be her hand.
• Arya Stark has a Baratheon baby after her one night stand with Gendry, melding the two houses as predicted in the first season.
• Brienne of Tarth presents a Lannister bastard baby, a potential heir apparent, but she has no regal aspirations, so she will remain close to Arya and Sansa.
•   Jon Snow leaves it all behind and return to the rebuild the Wall and the Knights Watch.

·         Throughout the series, women have been consistently some of the strongest characters. That might play out to the end.

At the end, regardless how inane it might turn out, I have enjoyed the ride in suspending reality for and hour or two every week.

From a Prompt: Cockleburs, Poison Ivy, Super Baby2, Slip N Slide Failure

Poor Miss Molly, Bud Wise’s stupid Irish Setter was full of cockleburs, again. She got all matted up after running through the fields chasing the fat groundhog that seemed to constantly tease her. If it wasn’t bad enough that last week’s trip to the vet cost him an easy 100 bucks to clear a nasty case of poison ivy from Kurt Rashmen’s cheap root mulch that Miss Molly kept digging in, now he had to head to the PetSmart to get Molly cleaned up before the twin’s birthday party.

It came to him in a moment of resourceful time management that he could stop in the Target pick up the kids’ present, which was the next in the series of Super Baby2 : Invasion of the Potty Snatchers, while Molly was getting de-burred. With all his errands complete, Bud and Molly went home to begin the festivities with the kiddies.

It was the dog days of August and the kids were already in their bathing suits waiting for the hose to be turned on to fill the Slip N Slide. Bud turned on the water to get the runner filled and ready for the kids. At the same time the fat groundhog waddled across the lawn. It paused when the water began to spray and looked directly at Miss Molly as if to say, “Come on. Let’s go another round.”

With the challenge accepted, Molly launched from her position, skating directly across the water slide on all four paws and snatched the groundhog around its neck.

As she proudly presented her master with her prize, Bud saw that Molly had caused a Slip N Slide failure. Her paws had ripped the plastic runner in her pursuit of that taunting fat groundhog.