Jamie Sumner > Quotes

“Outside the sky is fading into purple. It's that lonesome hour between daytime and dark, when the world doesn't know who it wants to be.”
― Jamie Sumner, The Summer of June

“Sometimes,” Grandpa said when it finally stopped raining and the sun came out, “the best plan is the one you don’t make for yourself.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Smell something new. Taste something new. Hear something new. See something new. Hug someone. Write to your mother. Wiggle your toes, wiggle your fingers, wiggle your eyebrows. SMILE. Tell a joke. Imagine your favorite place. Write to your mother. Every day I’m supposed to draw a ball out of the jar and whatever number it is, I have to do that thing on the list. Bert is incredibly bothered that she put Write to your mother twice. He says she’s skewing the odds. I told him that was her point.”
― Jamie Sumner, Time to Roll

“I’m not a bad kid, really I’m not. It’s just that anybody who sees a girl in a wheelchair thinks she’s going to be sunshine and cuddles. Sorry for having an opinion.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Ever since I got my first pink wheelchair at four and began to notice all the things I could and couldn’t reach, Food & Co. has been my favorite place.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“They’ve never had to do an individualized plan before for someone with a physical disability. Can you believe that?” In this school, yes, I can. “But they’re making one for you. Mrs. Rutherford’s tough, but I think she’ll fight for you.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Don’t you throw the Good Book at me, Lily Belle Cowan. God knows I am not giving up on you. And you do too.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Ellie, we don’t know what this new school is like. We don’t know how equipped they are to handle you.” “To handle me?” Mom rocks back and sits on her heels, and now I’m looking down at all the tiny lines around her eyes. “Yes, Ellie. Handle you. I’m sorry if that sounds harsh or demeaning, but it is my job to protect you. It is my job to make sure you are safe and looked after, even if you don’t like it.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“You don’t understand! I have to stay. Home was so… lonely.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Because she wanted to know my name before she wanted to know about my chair. That’s saying something.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“I’m just so tired of all of this, and I don’t mean the hospital. The wheelchair thing I can handle. But I hate it when the rest of me doesn’t work. That’s what nobody gets—the CP isn’t only about not being able to move my body; it also makes my whole system weak. I get sick more than most people. I get worn out more than most people. I get ambulance rides and hospital stays for stupid reasons. And I hate it.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Wherever you want to take me.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Will you bring in the bath chair?” This is another thing I cannot do by myself here. Mom has to lift me naked like a baby into the tub and Velcro me into the bath chair, which is basically exactly what it sounds like—a chair I sit in in the tub, with a seat belt so I don’t slip down in the water. It runs on batteries, and I flick a switch and it lowers me in like a giant Easter egg. At home I can at least get myself into the tub, even if sometimes I need help getting the straps fastened. But one of these days we’ll get a real handicapped shower that I can roll straight into and wash myself. It’s a tiny thing no one else thinks about, the privilege to wash yourself without help.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“It's Ellie.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“I have been thinking about God lately and what it means to “live a life according to your convictions,” as my grandma’s pastor would say. I’ve never been good at the prayer thing. I mean, I pray sometimes, but only when something really, really bad is happening or I think might be about to happen. I don’t think that’s the same thing as just praying because you’d like to tell God about your day or you’re just so happy or whatever.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“You want to marry my mom, right?” He collapsed onto the rocking couch, sending it squeaking back and forth. “Yes. I want to be part of your family in whatever way you will let me, because I think you’re pretty cool. Slightly wicked with what you just did there, but also cool and stubborn and an incredible baker, and I’d be honored if you’d let me into your inner circle.”
― Jamie Sumner, Time to Roll

“Shoot!” Mom says when a blob of red sauce falls on her pants. I look down at my wheelchair tray. I forget sometimes that other humans don’t come as well equipped.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Okay, I am mad, but she’s also right. I’m not normal.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“I don’t mind church, really, but it’s awkward when everybody stands up to sing and then sits down again. Up and down. Up and down while I just sit. And then there’s the “Please take a moment to greet your neighbor” weirdness. There’s always one mom or grandmama who talks at me like I’m two: “Oh, hellooooo. And how old are you?” (really loudly, two inches from my face).”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“So, can I ask?” “Ask what?” “What happened?” The million-dollar question. She points at my chair, and even though the smoke smell isn’t as bad back here, all of a sudden my eyes start to itch and I just want to go home. “Nothing happened. At least, not like you think. I didn’t get hit by a bus or anything.” Coralee just switches legs and says, “Uh-huh,” so I keep talking. “I have cerebral palsy. Something happened before I was born, or right around then, and the doctors don’t know what. But whatever ‘it’ ”—I make quote signs with my fingers—“was, it made it so it’s hard for me to move.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Nice Swiftie sticker,” she says, tapping my wheel where a rainbow sticker says “You Need to Calm Down.” I grin. My chair decals are never more appreciated than when I am here.”
― Jamie Sumner, Please Pay Attention

“You can’t unsmell a smell. Once it’s there, it’s there for life.”
― Jamie Sumner, Rolling On

“You don't give up on something if it's still got some fight in it.”
― Jamie Sumner, The Summer of June

“Seizure?” It feels like I’m talking around rocks. Please, God, don’t let it have been a seizure. Don’t let me have to go back on those meds, with everyone treating me like I’m a bomb about to go off any second. Please don’t let the count start again, X many days since the last episode. Please. She hands me a big pink jug with a bendy straw and makes me take a sip of water before she says anything. I forgot about the ice, like little pellets of sleet. Hospitals always have the best ice. “You got an infection, baby. It turned into pneumonia.” Well, that explains it, the feeling like a horse was stamping on my chest.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Ellie, we will figure all that out later. For now, you rest. Look. They brought a few DVDs up from the lending library.” I flip through them. Frozen. Hannah Montana. The Muppet Christmas Carol. I am six again.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“My mom got married recently and she’s away on her honeymoon, and I’ve been missing her more than I’d like to admit. I wish there were a food that could send you back to a person. Now THAT would be magic.”
― Jamie Sumner, Time to Roll

“It happens to a lot of really early babies, I guess, this cerebral (“brain”) palsy (“paralysis”) that left me different from everybody else. The brain just isn’t ready to protect itself from the bumps and bruises of the outside world. It’s like a snail that hasn’t grown its shell.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Yeah. So glad Mom found the love of her life so you could take a vacation.” I hear Mom’s voice in my head: Enough with the snark, Ellie. But Mom’s not here. My buffer has left me. I can say whatever I want.”
― Jamie Sumner, Time to Roll

“Dear God, please work a miracle and make this dinner a triumph. I need to bring my grandpa home for good.”
― Jamie Sumner, Rolling On

“Stop fussing!” “Well, start talking.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It