HOPE-OPOTAMUS ON THE MOVE

There’s excitement brewing in the hope-opotamus herd this morning. Rumor has it that some of them—nobody knows exactly which ones--are about to be adopted. The first indication that it was about to happen came last week in the email. Of course they all want to go, even though Hope House is a great place for a hope-opotamus to be. Nothing makes them happier than to receive a really gracious invitation like this one.

Hello Wendy!
Just your friendly neighbourhood brain injury awareness week coordinator here. I am so looking forward to meeting you and hearing your talk on the 6th of June. My co-worker, Louise Jensen, pulled your article "Hope-opotamus Hits the Big Time!" from the Fall 2007 issue of the Hope News. She had saved this in the hopes of someday
getting a hope-opotamus for our group room, and now that she knows you
are coming, she passed on the article to me.
I found the whole thing absolutely delightful. I spent last summer in Kenya and South Africa and I went around the whole time saying that in my next life I wanted to be a hippopotamus. Did you know that hippos make a noise that sounds like one of those cartoon evil laughs? They seriously go "mwah-ha-ha-ha!" It made me laugh
everytime I heard it. That was the first reason I wish I was a hippo.
The others were that in the heat of the day, when everything else is boiling hot, the hippo gets to hang out in the nice cool water! The other was that nothing was big enough to eat a hippo! Sorry, this is neither here nor there, but I know you like stories. I've been
reading your hopelady blog since I saw it in your email signature. I
think I've read most of it now, and I have really been enjoying it. I
must say, I particularly liked the story of little Frances Ann.
Anyway, back on topic. Our group room is used a lot, but it is a
fairly boring room. It has tables and chairs and a white board.
There is some artwork from brain injury survivors, but on the whole,
it is a pretty dreary room. I think a hope-opotamus would really liven
things up and give people something to hold on to in difficult sessions. I don't know what your stock of hope-opotamuses is like, but if the Edmonton Brain Injury Relearning Society, and the Networks
Activity centre, our sister organizations, could have one for their
offices, I'm sure they would be very happy too. We would be glad to
make a donation for the hope-opotamuses, and we would love it if you
could give it to NABIS as part of your talk on the 6th. I think it
would be a very lasting symbol of the effects of this more
lighthearted brain injury awareness week.
Sorry for writing such a long winded email! I got a little
carried away. Please think about it - no pressure - and get back to me.

Thank you so much!

Vanessa