Taking the Bull by the Horns 2015 Deafblind Symposium in Austin, TX. Transcript Start [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black. Adam Graves: There probably aren't very many people in here who know Larry and Denise's son. He flies under the radar pretty well. [ Laughter ] But I want to introduce Larry and Denise Sewell who are going to talk about their son Blu. Larry Sewell: We're proud to be here, and the first thing I want to say is, if it wasn't for the support of so many different people, teams, our local community at home... we wouldn't have got where we are. I mean, had so much support, I mean, T-S-B-V-I... she already told me not to get emotional when I started this and I done started. [ Laughter ] But, they said... When she first told me we were going to do this, it was, 'Can you talk about Blu and what we've done?' I said, 'Are you kidding? I can talk about that for hours,' that's not a problem. My main support is this woman right here. She... [Applause] She is my rock and I'm going to give you an incident. One time she came down to the school and she... she couldn't talk. And I am sure you all know which one it is. And she calls me -- she's just a bawling, saying, 'I can't do this, I'm coming home.' I said, 'Oh, no you're not.' 'You've never once backed down from anything when it comes to my son,' or our son. And this is the reason we have gotten to where we are, because she stands like a rock, and she will do what it takes to get something done. I'm just very proud of this woman right here. [Applause] Several times that -- that we've been doing things for our son, Noah Blu, he... he... there he is. He... we had... We get a door shut in our face. And the only way that we've known to do that, just go back and open that door or another door. And it's one thing that we've always -- we've looked at from the very beginning is do not give up. Don't ever stop. You have got to keep working, if it's not one door you open, you go and you open the other door. I don't know where I'm at on this, I've already gotten off track. Denise Sewell: Yeah. Larry: But what the deal is... Denise: I gave him a script, I really did... Larry: We have taken the bull by the horns. And I mean... this is what this is about and this -- of course we didn't actually step into the pen with this one because he would get ya. [ Laughter ] Denise: Where is the one of Blu, it's not on here? Larry: Anyway, like I say, I thank a friend of mine for letting us get a picture of this one right here. This is a... a... actually a rodeo bull that belongs to a friend of mine. When Blu's name came up on the D-B-M-D waiver, we got as excited as anybody would, because it opened up so many doors for our child, again. And it's, and like I said, It's because we did not quit. We never stopped. When the door would get closed, we worked to open another door, and we would get that door open. We got lucky enough to get with the V-O-A, which is Volunteers of America out of Euless. They didn't have anybody in our area, but due to this woman, right here, she kept talking like she always does, and convinces somebody -- yeah, they came into our area and expanded and took Blu. Which everybody ... falls in love with Blu. [Clapping] And when you get one phone call out and it doesn't work, you make another one. And trust me, our phone bill stays... it stays there. [ Laughter ] They -- I mean, they weren't required to take Blu. But... this woman kept talking and keeps on, and keeps on and keeps pulling, and pushing and prodding, until she gets something done; and they finally agree to come in and... and take Blu as one of their clients. I mean, it's a great organization. They... they come from Euless down to East Texas, which is about 120, 130 miles from Euless to our home. We... we don't have a... a real... a... what am I trying to say? Denise: I'm not sure, you're way off the script. [ Laughter ] Larry: I get off -- that's it -- it doesn't do me any good to write anything down, because when it comes to Noah Blu, I can... I can talk forever. The thing that you have to remember, if you... if you can't find an answer to this question, find somebody else to call. If they can't answer it here, call another group. If that group can't answer, call this one. You keep on calling and keep on opening those doors until it... until it happens. You just never take no for an answer. Never take no for an answer. Not when it comes to our kids or a child or an adult, individual, that needs help. Don't take no for an answer. Because there's an answer out there somewhere. I mean, I... I... we've been told so many times, 'No he can't do this.' or 'No, he can't do that,' but.... we never quit. Never do quit. We've even actually gone and joined the country club -- so Blu would have a place to go swim during the summer. One of our attendants that we have, she has a daughter and a son, that Blu loves to death. Blu -- he swims with Josie. Josie injured her knee last year, and Blu actually went to the rehabilitation center with her, and was riding the bicycle and exercise machines and... [ Laughter ] Yeah. He -- I don't know where he gets that from -- it's got to be his momma. I don't know. Of course, he listens to Josie, he loves Josie to death. And When Connor is around, it's... it's another wreck. As you can tell, he is a Texas University fan, and he loves... loves being around it. Here we go. Parades. He loves going to parades. He loves watching parades. He loves being in the parades. Which we had an opportunity to go to several of them with our church, who is another one of our big supporters. We attend a -- what's called a Cowboy Church. And... they... I can't tell you what they have done. We walked in the door, and we just -- we just don't worry about anything. Somebody in there has got an eye on him, cause turn around and can say, 'Where's Blu?' And they say, 'Oh, he's over there,' or 'He's over there.' And usually -- And I hate to say this -- he's sitting with a woman somewhere. [ Laughter ] Which I'm accused of... being like his daddy. [ Laughter ] And, of course, he has all of the love in the world from his mother and his daddy, and then he has a brother and a sister who -- they love him very much. They worship him. And when Blu's at a ball game, or he's around Cody, he's... you can just give up, because they're going to be into something, or they're going to be doing something to somebody. He loves watching ball games, and then we have another attendant, Annie, who -- that's not Annie, that's one of the girls from the church. There's pictures of the rodeo. And, yeah, I did sit on horseback, every now and then. Which -- there he is. Annie started being one of Blu's attendants... about two years ago Denise: Three. Larry: Three years ago. And... Annie was getting married to a friend of ours from church. And they... she wanted Blu to give her away, and walk her down the aisle. And this is him. [Applause] This is one picture -- this was a first by the way, with him with a hat, a long sleeved shirt, jeans and boots on. So trust me, it was a... it was a first for him, too. But he got all of the support, and they... He walked her down the aisle, and stopped, and give her the kiss... and right on she went. And then, of course, we went to the reception later on and Blu had a blast, because he was dancing with all of the other girls and having a really good time. But he's... he's just -- without the support of the church members, family, friends -- you know, you've got to involve everyone, get them into that team. We -- like I said, Rendi's brother and sister, Rendi and Cody... are a big deal for him. Rendi got married last year, in Mexico. We actually got to go down to Cancun, and we took Candace, one of his attendants with us, to help, kind of keep up with him. And they were saying, 'You're going to let him fly?' Well, 'Yeah, there ain't we're not gonna let this kid do!' I mean, he wants to go, he'll go. We'll find a way. And that's what you gotta do. Besides that, if we didn't end up taking him, I don't know that my daughter would have laid claimed me, again, after that. But she said her brother is going to be there. So... he was there. Grandma and Buck went with us, and we got to spend a week down in Cancun, and... and enjoy it with grandma and Buck, aunt Debbie, Cody, Audra, Corey and Rendi, and... and many others. But Rendi -- Blu loves his... loves his Rendi. She will... she will keep him... up. I mean, she spoils him -- they're as bad as we are. They argue over who is going to take care of Blu, when we're not there anymore. And that's really what will work on your heart when you have got some kids like that. The reason we're here -- Denise: Oh, I forgot about that one -- Larry: Yeah, okay, there's another one. If you notice, this is my normal attire -- If you can spot me in there, she has dressed me in linen pants and a -- [ Laughter ] Denise: Can I zoom it up? Larry: Yeah. You know, that was not in my... my -- Denise: I will leave that up there for a while, too. Larry: No, you can go ahead and change that one. [ Laughter ] The reason we're up here is... again, we've taken the bull by the horns. God opens doors for ya all the time. And when a door gets shut, God opens another door; you just have to look for it. You have to never quit trying. I can't emphasize that enough -- hardly at all. We -- several years ago -- had an opportunity to purchase a business in Gilmer; and we couldn't get it done. And we kept working on it, because we knew sooner or later something was going to come up to where Blu was going to come home; and again, in our area, there's nothing for our children like him. Or any adult. So, we knew we were going to have to do something. Around the first of March, of last year, a friend of mine called me -- oh, wait I got ahead of myself. Eight years ago... we... tried to buy the dry cleaners in Gilmer. Wouldn't go through. Wouldn't work. But we never stopped. We found -- we knew we'd find another door, and got to the point where we started wondering. First of March last year, a good friend called me -- or sent me a text. 'Are you still interested in the cleaners?' I said, 'Yeah, we just can't get the financing.' She sent me another text with an offer that we could not refuse. We jumped on it. That was the first week of March. March 31st, 2014, we became the owners of the Aldredge Dry Cleaners in Gilmer, Texas. Now, I spent 25 years -- [Applause] I spent 25 years in law enforcement, y'all. One of the big things they always talk about is, you know -- after I bought these cleaners is, 'I dealt with the dirty laundry for the county for 25 years -- Denise: You're not gonna say that! [ Laughter ] Larry: Now I'm just going to clean some of it, okay? And do it legally? I'm still within the law there. So, I'm still there. But it... it opened up a whole new door for us. It's been a big learning experience. We... two weeks into it, Denise comes by one night, she said -- I'm behind, I've had a couple of girls that's been sick. And she's gonna stay there and help me get everything done. Eight o'clock, she says, 'You're buying me supper.' So where does she want to go? Jack in the Box. We are sitting there eating our tacos, and she says, 'By the way, you can have the cleaners, I'm keeping my job, I'm not coming to work at the cleaners for you. That is not happening.' So anyway, she's left the cleaners up to me. Blu -- Blu has gotten to where he's coming to the cleaners, he loves to come, he wants to come to work. He... from the very beginning he has... come in there. We have found different things for him to do. He'll come in and help us sort some clothes. We have a machine there that's called a thermal patch machine, where we put the patches, names and what's being done with that item -- he loves pulling the handle down. And then he'll sit there and... he waits for it to come up. It slowly starts coming up, he gets excited, gets to take it off. But then he's helping me sorting clothes, and... we're finding different things that he can do. He's... this will... this is one of 'em. And this was -- we had to go back and redo this, because the original one we did back in the summer was upside-down and Denis couldn't figure out how to flip it over or whatever she did. But we went up and -- but you have to put patches -- and when it's his clothes, he really gets excited, when he gets to put that patch in there. Cause we been putting patches in all of his stuff. But he'll go back and help us sort the clothes and... we had a lot of support. I mean, not just from family, every -- the... the four employees that I have here at the... this cleaners is -- there it goes! There he is, he's getting it pulled down. [ Laughter ] He gets excited. There you go -- he's thanking me for it. I don't know why he's thanking me, he did all of the work this time. But it'll come up... [ Laughter ] The enthusiasm and everything -- you got to give him in the support. And that' -- the other employees there at the cleaners will do the same thing. They will -- and they keep an eye on him. Because -- I mean these presses -- we can't let him get near the presses while we're actually working, because, I mean, I'm afraid it would burn him. If you tell him they're hot, he stays away. And when he's up there the other employees do keep an eye on him. You know, when he... when he comes home for good, we're going to try to work him into where he's got, you know, two or three hours a day, there at the cleaners; to where he can actually have a job. He'll have his intervener who will work him in the mornings, and then he'll come to the cleaners and work a couple hours that day. And whether it's helping sort the clothes, or pushing the buggies around, he has to have the help from somebody, to pick the clothes out, and tell him, exactly, which pile to put it in. Because he... he -- it has to be sorted a certain way, but he's learning, and he's learning he can get around to... to that kind of stuff. It's just... his world is wide open here, and this is just the beginning. He turns 19 in... in August. But this is just the beginning for him and many other opportunities. And... and what we keep saying, you can't let -- if that door shuts in front of you and hits you in the nose, you got -- you can't let it stop you. You take you a step back and you go find another door. You never give up. Never quit! And like I said, this woman here, has been... Denise: Stay on the script. [ Laughter ] Larry: She's been it. She has been it. He loves riding a four-wheel. I can't get him on my horses, cause he's too big, cause I can't throw him on there anymore. So, I have to get him on the four-wheeler to ride him around. It's an awesome ride. It's been an awesome ride. We've been thrown several times, but we always get back up, get back on, and go again and go find another door. So, the only thing we can say is, we want to thank everybody that's been on our teams. T-S-B-V-I, D-B-MAT, you all have been great. That's our biggest supporters, along with our community and our church. Thank you all. [Applause] [Silence] Fade up from black. 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