If you haven't had the opportunity of meeting Chad in person, I hope you do at some point! But if not, I hope you will take the time to read this post and check out some of the other links I reference about him. He's one of those people that you only have to meet once and they change your life for the better. I am convinced he has touched more lives than we will ever know. And I really think he could touch yours.
For those of you unfamiliar with Chad’s story, let me start at the beginning. Chad was born in a small town in south central Idaho. He was a curious, energetic little boy. He is pictured below with my other brother, Jed. Chad is the younger of the two boys.
When Chad was two years old, he nearly drowned in an irrigation ditch at our home. He was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he spent six weeks in ICU, and the next 10 ½ months in a rehabilitation center. He was in a coma for almost the entire first year after the accident. When he started to come out of the coma, it became apparent that he had lost all of the skills he had gained in the first two years of his life, including how to suck, swallow, chew, etc. The doctors did not provide much hope for the future, but my parents brought him home with the promise to Chad, and to each other, that they would make his life as fulfilling as they could.
Since the accident, Chad has been confined to a wheelchair, has limited fine motor skills and does not have the ability to speak. Don’t let that fool you though. Chad absolutely DOES have the ability to understand, and understands very well. Imagine being in a room full of people, listening to the conversation, having an opinion, but not being able to speak. And worse yet, because you can’t speak, many of the people in the room don’t think you understand at all. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be? And yet, Chad presses on, with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye for anyone who takes the time to notice.
Despite the ongoing challenges related to his accident, Chad continues to work hard and move forward in regaining lost skills and gaining an education. Chad graduated from high school in 2000 and has taken a couple of classes at the local junior college.
Although he does not have verbal abilities, he uses other methods to communicate his wishes and opinions. And let me tell you, this man has opinions! If someone is trying to feed Chad and he doesn’t like the food, he will either stick out his tongue or clench his mouth so tight that there is NO way you are going to get any food in him. Chad LOVES music. But if we are listening to a song he doesn’t like, he lets us know. And if we are singing a hymn at church that he doesn’t really like, he closes the hymn book long before the song is over.
Chad is also a huge tease. My mom sits on a stool to feed him, and there have been countless times when she has stood up to do something else and he has knocked over her stool in those few short seconds. And then he just laughs, and so do we. When he was a senior in high school, our sister, Whitney, was a sophomore. And like most big brothers in high school, he would try and pretend like he didn’t know her whenever they passed each other in the halls. And when her friends would ask Chad questions about our family, he would tell them that everyone else was cute, but Whitney was “fat and ugly”. Which clearly she is neither of those things, but it was a good joke for a while.
Chad loves game shows, like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and Price is Right. A few years ago he had the opportunity to meet Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune, and the guy was on cloud 9! He also knows what time his shows come on. If the TV is turned to a different channel when its time for one of his shows, he gets really excited until we change it. And he loves playing those games with our family on the Wii.
He loves opening presents, Disney music and movies, going for rides, birthdays, bowling, the movie Good Burger, and board games like Sorry and Aggravation (he is PRO at rolling a six with a dice).
Chad has an incredible, positive demeanor. Even when he is in excruciating pain, he still smiles and is so patient with everyone around him. One of the only times he gets upset is when people around him are upset. When we were younger, sometimes we would get into little “arguments” as siblings. But if this happened when we were around Chad, he would start to cry. Talk about feeling put in your place! Chad rarely cries, but when he does, it seriously breaks your heart. And it quickly reminded us that whatever we were arguing about was dumb, and we needed to resolve it in another way. I will FOREVER be grateful to Chad for helping my other siblings and I learn at an early age the importance of getting along and treating each other with love. To this day we all have a great relationship with each other, and I know a big part of that is thanks to Chad.
In June 2009, Chad began receiving professional art instruction. He first learned about abstract art like that of famed artist Jackson Pollock and others. Since that time he has continued learning new techniques and composition skills, including landscape art. His teacher, KriSan Hardcastle, has developed a system whereby Chad chooses the medium, colors, tool or brush, type of papers or canvas and length of time spent working with a certain color or tool. He is very specific in letting her know when he has completed a painting. For one of the first times, Chad has an outlet to express himself 100%. With art, he isn’t limited by the choices we give him or if we ask the right questions. He gets to choose exactly what he wants to do. And if you haven’t noticed, he is REALLY good. Here are a just a few of my favorites.
My oldest brother Jed created a Facebook page to highlight Chad’s work. To see more of his paintings and join the group, visit The Artwork of Chad Robinson.
The local newspaper also wrote a story about Chad last year. To read this story, visit An Artist Finds His Voice Through Paintings
To me, Chad's story constantly reinforces two guiding principles in my life. First, love truly is the most powerful language there is, and has the ability to connect each of us to others, no matter the words spoken...or unspoken. Even though Chad is unable to communicate with us verbally, we all feel his love every day, and he shares it with everyone he meets. As a result, they are empowered with a greater measure of love to share with others. So don't be afraid to share your love, to reach across language, religion, race, and cultural barriers, and speak a language that we all can understand.
Second, no matter the limitations we, or others might have, EVERYONE has something to offer this world. Everyone has something to give to make the world a little better, a little happier, a little brighter. There is more beauty in this world because Chad paints. So look deep inside yourself and discover what you can offer the world. Because I am convinced that when you do, the world is going to be better off because you're here.
Has your life been influenced by Chad? Do you have a favorite memory of him? Please feel free to share by posting a comment below!
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