Michael Heykoop

On February 28, 2010, Canadian Brian McKeever will line up next to the best cross country skiers in the world for the 50k event at the 21st Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.  He will do so with a distinct disadvantage – Brian is legally blind.  Stargardt's disease has claimed most of Brian's eyesight, leaving him with less than 10 percent vision, all of it peripheral.

Words can be powerful things. With so many similar words to choose from—especially in the English language—I am often amazed at how the use of a particular word or phrase in just the right situation can stop a reader right in his or her tracks. Perhaps this has happened to you. You read a certain line and are so struck by it that you have to pause and consider what it means for you.