Launched in 2018, My Sandy Trail is a blog designed for world travelers, parents of children with special needs and people who just want to enjoy life. This site is a quickly growing and informative source for go-getters with positive attitudes from all around the world. If you love seeing new places and sharing these experiences with your child who may be in a wheelchair or have special needs, then you will feel right at home here. In reading about my experiences, you will be inspired to laugh more, live each day to the fullest and live a life of happiness with no regrets.
So, in case you are wondering why you should listen to what I have to say, let me tell you a bit about myself. My name is Sandy and I have 27 years of experience traveling the world with my son who happens to have Muscular Dystrophy and uses an electric wheelchair. I often tell him, “If you can’t stand up, stand out!” and this is exactly what he has done.
I won the “Good Neighbor Award” from Parents Magazine when my son was only 6 years old after founding and organizing a little league ball team for children with special needs in our hometown of LaFayette, GA. I wanted more for him than just sitting on the sidelines as a spectator and watching all the other kids running and playing. I sacrificed my financial goals working as a paraprofessional to maintain school hours and summers off so that I could spend more time with him to travel and see new things while he was in elementary, middle and high school. This gave me the time to share experiences with him that most people will never get to obtain. I led a scout group called “Winners on Wheels”, led a bowling league of children with special needs, and somehow found time for myself to play coed volleyball and a crazy mad game of ping pong every now and then.
I have traveled to six continents, hung out with pop singer Katy Perry backstage in London after she chose me as the “Firework” in her national contest, and been seen in a worldwide segment on CBS News, on Israel’s number one news channel and all three local news stations in the Chattanooga TN area. What a Sandy Trail this life has been and still is each and every day.
There’s never a dull moment when you maintain a positive, go get ‘em attitude in all aspects of your life. I started this blog to share with you stories of travel and leisure from behind the scenes as a caregiver’s perspective. You may laugh with me and cry with me as we go from one adventure to another. In my spare time, you will find me playing with my two dogs or stretched out on the massage table with a smile on my face in both situations. So sit back, relax, like me on Facebook and join me in my next adventure here at My Sandy Trail.