I wanted to give you guys a little update on what is going on with me in Baltimore. I am staying super busy with both school and therapy. This past weekend I came home for the first time since moving to Baltimore. I had to be in a wedding for my good friend Clint Koen.  It was great to see my family and my friends this past weekend.

My flight was successful for the most part. I didn’t have any delays or turbulence. However, upon returning to Baltimore I had a little bit of trouble. When I arrived to the airport on Friday, I parked my truck in the parking garage. Being the wise guy that I am, I hurried to catch my flight not remembering where I parked my turck. So when I arrived back to Baltimore on Sunday, I had no idea what section or what floor my truck was on. Now this parking garage isn’t like the local garage outside the mall… It is massive!!! So with my luggage in my lap I went and searched for my truck. Try to picture me doing this… There are eight floors in the garage and I would place my luggage in the elevator to keep the door open as I went outside in the garage turning my head back and forth looking for my truck. I looked very goofy. Well, needless to say, after about 30-45 minutes I found my truck. This was a bit embarrassing and not one of my fondest moments. I will be sure to take a cab to the airport on my next trip.

My therapy has been going really good. I am starting to get back in really good shape like I was before my wound. I am walking a lot better and walking in 20 foot spurts without taking a break. This is the best I have ever walked since my accident. I am also crawling on my own. This is pretty neat and really encouraging. I can bring my hips through and balance my weight. I have been doing therapy three days a week at Kennedy Krieger Institute. The other nights of the week, I am going down to the gym in my apartment and getting a good workout in. My body is getting back into fantastic shape. I can definitely see a lot of progress happening. I am excited to see where I will be this time next year.

I know that Nothing Is Impossible and that my team of family, friends, therapists, and doctors are the best in the world. I feel very blessed to be surrounded by so many good people. I am also very lucky to have the opportunity to associate myself with some of the most remarkable heroes ever at therapy. These people inspire me each and everyday to be the very best that I can be as we all strive to a common goal of recovery. I want to thank all of you for your continued outpouring of support… The thoughts, prayers, and encouragement keeps me motivated. Thanks again for everything and God Bless!

Matt C

I had a very neat opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. to attend a function at the Pentagon. It was an amazing trip and one I will always remember. I will fill you in on how all this got set up… A couple of weeks ago, one of my professors was at Capitol Hill in D.C. and met a guy who was a paraplegic and in a wheelchair. The guy’s name was Andrew D. Houghton, http://www.abilityone.gov/jwod/about_us/Andrew_Houghton.htm.  Andrew, who goes by Andy, emailed me an invitation to attend a ceremony at which the United States Department of Defense was to honor the AbilityOne program, of which Andy is the Chairperson. AbilityOne is a program that provides employment opportunities for people who are blind or severely disabled. Andy was appointed by President Bush in 2003 to this committee.

Early yesterday early morning I left from Baltimore to travel to Washington D.C. I was accompanied by my good friend/therapist Claire. We arrived at the Pentagon around noon for the ceremony, which started at one. As we arrived at the Pentagon, it was pretty remarkable. The Pentagon is so big and to drive by the memorial from 9/11 sent chills through my body. It brought back a lot of memories from when I was in English class in high school on the morning the terrorist attack happened. After going through all of the security we arrived inside the Pentagon. We were escorted to the room where the ceremony took place. We had the opportunity to meet some really neat people. It was great to meet Andy. He is an incredible guy. I also met some other really incredible people.  I had the opportunity to meet a remarkable lady named Tina Ballard http://www.abilityone.gov/jwod/about_us/Ballard_tina.html who was extremely nice. Ms. Ballard and I both had a connection to Kennedy Krieger Institute. Her son has been to KKI before, so we shared our stories. It was great to meet her and she inspired me with my academics and political aspirations. The ceremony was pretty remarkable and was attended by the Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States, Gordon England. He is the second highest ranking official in the military. It really fueled my drive for politics being at an event with such inspirational people.

After the ceremony, Claire and I went over to the memorial sight. It was on the opposite side of the Pentagon. Standing right in front of where the planes crashed was staggering. For each individual that was deceased both on the plane and in the Pentagon, there was a park bench with the individuals name engraved on the end. All of the benches were aligned in rows separated by each of the individuals date of birth. The park benches faced towards the Pentagon and away from the Pentagon. The benches facing the Pentagon were the passengers that were on the plane. The benches facing away from the Pentagon were the individuals that were in the Pentagon. Sitting there in my chair, the only feeling that I had was anger. I just can’t believe someone would do something like this. It reinforced how lucky that I am to wake up each and every day with the gift of freedom. Not everyone in this world is that lucky.  As a society we sometime take that for granted. I am very proud of our soldiers and officials who put in the time to sustain the freedom that we have. I am especially proud to be an American citizen.

Yesterday was a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. It was an incredible experience and one that has truly motivated me. I want to send a big thank you to Andy for the invitation. Andy lives in Florida and he comes up this way quite a bit, so we plan to get together again soon. I also want to send a special thank you to Ms. Susan Pollack. Ms. Susan put everything together to make sure my trip was as successful as possible. She is a great lady and I am very happy I had the opportunity to meet her. In closing, I want to share part of the script that was written on a stone at the memorial: “We claim this ground in remembrance of the events of September 11, 2001. To honor the 184 people whose lives were lost, their families, and all who sacrifice that we may live in freedom.”

God Bless,

Matt Courson