<img style="float: right;" src="https://opedge.com/Content/OldArticles/images/2004-07_02/Fairley-Miki.jpg" hspace="4" vspace="4" /> <i>The O&P EDGE</i> is growing! We are delighted to introduce our newest staff member, Meredy Fullen. Many of you already know Meredy through her work with Ohio Willow Wood as a public relations and advertising specialist. Meredy is our new managing editor, and she also will assist in advertising sales--we are sure both editorial contributors and advertisers will enjoy her warm, outgoing personality! Tonja Randolph, our president and previous managing editor, will be pursuing new projects and goals for our company, Western Media LLC. Meredy is a person of many talents. Among other accomplishments, she helped the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) develop the bio-fit program for children. She has worked with Joe Sapere in developing a public relations campaign for Amputees Across America and has been on the last two trips with the amputee riders. She also has participated twice on a relay team for the San Diego Triathlon Challenge, helping to raise funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). While at Ohio Willow Wood, she was responsible for a variety of video projects and served as editor of OWW's <i>Perpetual Motion</i> newsletter. <table class="clsTableCaption" style="float: right; width: 32.9592%;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;"><img src="https://opedge.com/Content/OldArticles/images/2004-07_02/FullenMeredy.jpg" alt="Meredy Fullen" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 100%;">Meredy Fullen</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Meredy manages to find time in her busy schedule to attend athletic events in which her two sons, Corey, 16, and Caleb, 14, participate; to play in charity golf events; pursue long-distance running; and help her husband, Jeff, with home remodeling and landscaping projects. Welcome aboard, Meredy! <h2>Seniors Can Soar</h2> <b><i>Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that, so it goes on flying anyway. </i></b>--Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. Likewise, many people--perhaps even the amputees themselves--may feel that older amputees are more limited in what they can do than they really are. However, just like the bumblebee, many older amputees "just do it." For instance, Joe Sapere, who is in his early 60s, and Jerry Suggs, in his 70s, bicycled about 3,500 miles across the US in 2002, skydiving at intervals along the way, as part of the three-person team of Amputees Across America. Realistically, not every senior amputee is going to be able to accomplish these feats. But how can healthcare professionals, including prosthetists and orthotists, help older amputees to reach their individual potentials? This helpful subject is explored in the article, "<a href="https://opedge.com/2784">Geriatric Amputees: Enhancing Quality of Life</a>." <h2>Idealism: Possible in Today's World?</h2> The answer is "Yes!" In an article that is both inspirational and practical, a young couple who are involved in the O&P community, Jon Shinn and Keri Blythe Shinn, CO, discuss "<a href="https://opedge.com/2785">Maintaining Ideals in the Real World</a>" in this issue. Enjoy.
