Muscular Dystrophy and Life to the Fullest

I'm new to this site, but really excited about its potential and want to do my best to make it a success.  Here's my first post: 

We called him ‘Crick.’  I’m not sure why, but that’s undeniably who he was—the ‘Crick.’  Crick was one of my good friends growing up.  He also had severe Muscular Dystrophy and was confined to a wheelchair.  I didn’t understand much of his condition at the time, I just knew that he seemed to get on ok—he could drive using a special set up that allowed him to manage the gas and brake with his hands and he kept pretty active.  We used to spend the summer by going to as many baseball games as possible.  The Kansas City Royals were the home team, and our enthusiam for them was never dampened no matter how many games under five hundred they sank.  We’d pile in the car, with the wheelchair in the trunk, and head out to the game—usually with a stash of cigars ready for a postgame celebratory smoke (it was summer, and that and friendship were worth celebrating whatever the outcome of the game).  Usually the Royals would lose; but with a steady supply of hotdogs and root beer, not to mention our contests in insulting players from the rival teams the event always went over as a resounding success.

I think some people have a perception that people in wheelchairs don’t have fun, or should be felt ‘sorry’ for.  Those people didn’t know Crick.  Crick lived life to the fullest, and his sharp sense of humor would make quick work of anybody who felt ‘sorry’ for him.  Everyone, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, has a shortcoming of some kind—the trick is, in my opinion, to find out our strengths and interests and to cultivate those things. 

I learned from Crick that we’re not defined by our limitations, rather our strengths, personalities and the way we live in our communities surmount everything.

Anybody have an opinion on this?  How have you, in your own life or in someone elses, seen life lived to the fullest?