It occurred to me today that I've yet to share my all time favorite Myachi story on this blog and that just struck me as odd. There are a number of awesome stories that could compete for this title, but somehow the impact that this moment had on me seems to outshine all the others.
I'm kind of sentimental when it comes to Myachi so all my favorite stories are ones where Myachi managed to help somebody through something tough. Whether it was Kid and I getting stuck in an airport with 4 hour delays and keeping the 400 stranded boyscouts entertained or meeting a family and making the kids smile after a really miserable day, the best Myachi memories are the ones where I leave knowing that Myachi just made a positive impact on someone's life.
The most potent example of this that I can recall came in my first summer with Myachi. We were working a booth at Dollywood that was right in front of the entrance. This was, of course, an ideal spot from a sales perspective. Nobody could walk in or out of the park without seeing us and few could get passed without playing with us.
The people who worked the ticket booth told us that they also liked our placement. When things got slow in the middle of the day, they would keep themselves entertained by watching us shred, teach kids and throw contests. We even managed to get a few of them into the game so they kept a few Myachis in the booths so that they could play along from time to time.
Among the ticket-takers was an extremely sweet woman in her early sixties. She loved Myachi because it reminded her of the toys she played with as a kid; no batteries, no bells and whistles, no sitting on your butt not doing anything... just good, old fashioned, get-up-and-move fun. On her breaks she would often come over and chat with us and while her arthritis didn't allow her to play much, she was as enthusiastic as anyone when one of our customers hit a new trick.
It came as no surprise when she came over to pick up a Myachi. She had a granddaughter who was about Myachi age and while they lived quite a ways away, she thought it would make a pretty cool gift. And it probably would have if she'd ever given it to her. Turns out she wound of keeping it for herself.
She told us the story a few days later. Her physical therapist had been at her house and seen the Myachi and she did her best to explain what the game was all about. She couldn't do much in the way of tricks, but she did show her the Cradle and the Half-Pipe.
The therapist loved it as well and told her she should play as often as she could. As it happened, the Cradle mimicked an exercise that therapists use for people who have carpal tunnel syndrome and severe arthritis. Her therapist suggested that she do the cradle for at least a few minutes several times a day and try to squeeze the Myachi for a few minutes each day as well.
She dutifully took to this regiment and we wished her all the luck in the world with it. She was such a sweet person and we all knew that her arthritis made her job in to a trail in agony from time to time. This was toward the end of our stint in Dollywood that summer so shortly after that we bid her fair well, after hooking her up with a 2nd Myachi so her granddaughter would finally get one.
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The following year we were back and Pinky and I were the first on site. We showed up after hours one evening to set up and it turned out that it was about the same time that our favorite ticket taker was getting off of work for the day. She greeted me with a hug and before I could even ask if she still had her Myachi she had fished it out of her pocket.
She had the Cradle down pat and even had a pretty good rhythm on her Cold Fusion. But the most impressive thing she could do didn't use the Myachi at all. After a year of using Myachi in conjunction with her therapy, she could close her hand in a fist.
I know that doesn't seem like much to you or I, but it had been more than four years since she could close her hands completely. She told us that the pain had lessened incredibly since she started using her Myachi and that she'd even introduced it to several of her friends. Her therapist had order a box from our website and was using them regularly by that point.
No, of course, anecdotal evidence doesn't equal scientific proof and there is still no actual study that shows Myachi's benefit for arthritis or physical therapy in general, but it seems reasonable to me to assume that if a therapy is fun, people will be more apt to do it regularly. I don't know that Myachi is any better than just doing the same exercise without a Myachi, but I can tell you that the Myachi way will be more fun.
So if you're looking for a way to get your mother or grandmother into the game, be sure to pass this article along. I warn you in advance though, be prepared in case they get really good at it. Few blows to the ego can be as debilitating as losing to your grandma in a game of MYACH.
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