Carpe Diem.

Living life to the fullest is something Sandler has unintentionally taught me to do every single day. I could not be more grateful for him enlightening me on how important it is to never give up and enjoy every ounce of the journey. When he arrived into the world with all of his complications, a bright light turned on and signaled that life is far too precious to take for granted. He opened my mind to how beautiful the most simple things in life are and to never miss a chance to enjoy every moment.

I may take adventure to another level for someone my age, but Sandler sets the bar at unforeseeable levels. He has me doing things I never imagined and appreciating every second of it. Like skateboarding for instance. If you have read previous blogs, you know that I began my skateboarding career recently; I am far from the typical age of someone who takes up such a self mutilating sport. It is not only a painful activity, if not executed correctly, but there is an actual science to it—and believe me, science has never been my forte. But, seeing the pure joy and positive influence it has continued to have on Sandler has made me not want to miss my opportunity of sharing such an experience.

After watching Sandler progress rapidly the last couple of months, I was thrilled when our skate coach said I was ready to learn how to drop down the pyramid steps. Though I am not in competition with Sandler, I do feel the pressure to not completely embarrass him while skating on his territory. After almost an hour of diligent effort and help from my skate coach, I felt ready to give the drop-in and step-downs a go on my own. I lined my board up, took a deep breath, and sent myself down the cement obstacle. That is when my leg went one way, my body went the other, and there was a snap followed by a pain that was so remarkable I felt as though I was going to pass out.

Sandler immediately knew something had gone wrong. Being the empath that he is, he could not help but to break down with concern. I tried my hardest to pretend nothing was wrong, but all the while thinking, “This is how the phrase ‘pain in the ass’ came to be.” Once again I had a whole new appreciation for how tough Sandler is as well as his fellow skateboarders.

I had a feeling this incident would end up sending me to the doctor. I could not help but wonder how I would explain my injured derriere. I decided that honesty was the best policy for a proper diagnosis. I was pleasantly surprised by the supportive feedback—after the initial look of shock—when I told the doctors I had done it skateboarding. Upon waiting for an MRI, it was suggested to use crutches, stay off of it as much as I can, and invest heavily in ibuprofen. All of which make sense and are great suggestions, however summer finally showed up. Summer with Sandler is not a time when slowing down or staying put is an option.

Though he struggled with the fact I was in pain, he was thrilled to take over my skateboarding lessons and had an epic week of adding new tricks to his repertoire. To celebrate his awesome progress, we hit the beach to do a celebratory jump off the bridge. Once again I found myself lost in Sandler’s enthusiasm and forgot about my injury. I too wanted to jump off the bridge, seize the day, and enjoy the thrill. So off the bridge and into the water we both went. As I limped out onto the beach, I realized life with Sandler means spontaneously living each moment to its fullest. Every minute with him is better medicine than any pain reliever out there.

- Nikki