BLUE ASH, Ohio — Pete White gets the wheelchair out of his car. Then, he grabs the walker.
“Do you want to go walking or ride first?” he said.
“Ride,” said his son, Jason White.
Pete helps his son out of the car and into his wheelchair. As they go into their favorite Starbucks, Jason tells everyone he sees to have a great day.
Jason is 28 years old, and he doesn’t say a lot. But he’s about to get loud. Pete tells me they're getting ready to do one of his son’s favorite things: waving at cars.
“Let’s go get some honks,” Pete said.
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Jason shakes and almost jumps out of his chair on the sidewalk of a busy road in Blue Ash, waving to every car that passes.
“Wooooo,” Jason said.
After a few honks, Jason gets in his walker and practices for PigAbilities. It's a 1-mile race the day before the Flying Pig Marathon. In this race, it’s all about going at your own pace — walking or rolling.
Jason, who has cerebral palsy, has been training for about six months.
“It’s a challenge for him to go a mile in his walker," Pete said. “But he is enthused by the crowds.”
Pete helps his son walk down the street, lighting up anytime he sees a school bus. When an ambulance drives by with flashing lights, Jason convulses in joy.
“He’s a superhero,” Pete said. “And his superpower is that he moves his hands — he waves. And he makes people happy.”
I ask Pete how his son has changed his life, and he laughs. Then, he smiles.
“Jason has taught me almost everything important about life,” Pete said. “He has had lots of struggles — like many people with disabilities. But he doesn’t focus on that.”
Instead, the father and son go bowling, where several of Jason's teammates are also planning to participate in PigAbilities. One teammate has been walking in the race since she was a child.
“It sort of takes the 'dis' out of disability," Pete said. "And it focuses on what people can do."
