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My journey in love started in the middle of the Grand Canyon on a river trip down the Colorado River. I had just finished a Therapeutic Recreation internship at the National Ability Center (NAC) and was offered the opportunity of volunteering on an amazing trip. It was an incredible opportunity and an experience that truly changed my life forever.  

A few years before that river trip, while attending California State University Sacramento studying Therapeutic Recreation, I had spent two years volunteering at Disabled Sports USA, Far West, assisting in the teaching of snow skiing, water skiing, river rafting, and camping. As a very trusted volunteer, I was asked to pick up a female participant with a visual impairment on my way up from Sacramento to the Donner Lake camp-out. She was a 22-year-old college student and I was 26 and also a student.

On our drive up towards Tahoe, this very attractive young woman was definitely hitting on me. At that point I was wondering if I would be considered a bad or good volunteer if I accepted her advances? Was this some sort of set up, a “blind” date?  At the time, my answer was that it would probably not be a good thing to involve myself in a relationship with a client, and especially with my future career. During classes we had been instructed about this specific issue: our code of ethics basically states fraternizing with and dating clients could result in loss of job and licensure!

Fast forward a bit to when I was offered a full-time job at the NAC after my internship. Prior to starting work, Director Meeche White offered me that opportunity of volunteering on a trip down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon. The same question about whether I would be considered a good or bad volunteer for fraternizing with a client came up once again. This time I was a 28-year-old certified therapeutic recreation specialist and the girl was a beautiful 26-year-old accomplished athlete with paralysis.