Another check off the bucket list

Times Reporter

 

Finally completing and publishing the children’s book he had written a few years ago is just one more thing Strathmore resident Cory Johnson can cross off of his bucket list. The book, ‘Sunny Days, the flower with the difference’, follows the story of Sunny the sunflower, who is different from the other flowers in the garden, and the blue eyed girl who was created to look like Johnson’s daughter Emma.

“One of the reasons why I choose flowers is because it doesn’t really relate to anybody or any race or colour. Flowers are not discriminating in anyway, and everybody likes sunflowers,” said Johnson. 

“I don’t know what exactly is out there on differences, I didn’t do a lot of research, I just know it’s something that we need to learn to celebrate and work together to realize that a difference is okay, and how we offer each other all this stuff.”

Sunny is distraught because he is not like the other flowers, and he feels he needs to be more like them. The story illustrates Sunny realizing his differences are what make him special, and that he does have a lot to offer to the garden. 

Johnson is a motivational speaker who has Cerebral Palsy, and has never let it get him down. Johnson is also a full time father, Kiwanis Club Governor Elect for Western Canada and is currently training to compete for a spot in the Paralympics.   

“The main thing with my speaking is turning disabilities into possibilities, that’s what it’s about is seeing the possibilities in people, even though Sunny is not disabled he’s just different. I believe we are all born normal and we are born exactly the way we were meant to be,” said Johnson. 

“It gives you a moral that no matter how different people are they can still fit in, you don’t have to judge based off of looks,” said Brendon Berry, Johnson’s son. Berry feels the book is like a replay of the speech only for kids, and said the speech alone had already made an impact on him and how he views other people. 

Johnson is still working to shave a little more time off his running speed for the Paralympics. He is also planning to write a book for youth between the ages of eight and 14, and said he is working on revising his first book ‘I’m not drunk, I’m disabled.’ Anyone interested in a purchasing a copy of the book can go to www.coryjohnson.ca.