Roll with It Quotes

“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

“Dear God, Please help me find the perfect pie, the one that’s the most me. Or at least give me a hint. And also, I know you saw that dream last night, because according to Genesis, you know just about everything. I want you to know that I’m not going to ask for that, okay? I’m not going to ask for some sort of miracle. But if I were going to ask for a miracle, would you please help Grandpa? I don’t mind the CP so much most of the time, but I think the stuff with Grandpa is driving him a little crazy. Or crazier. And I don’t mean that in a mean way. I mean, I think he’s tired of being confused, and I think maybe that might be worse than not walking? So I guess I’m asking, could you please make him better? And also help me with my pie. Amen.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“Well, as the Good Book says, there ain’t nothing new under the sun. Seems to me like you’ve got to pick what speaks most to you.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“You don’t understand! I have to stay. Home was so… lonely.”
― 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

“Okay, I am mad, but she’s also right. I’m not normal.”
― 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

“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

“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

“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

“What’s the good of being old as dirt if you can’t pull rank?”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“So everybody’s staring at me not because I’m in a wheelchair. It’s because I’m from the park?” “You got it, sister. You’re from Trailerland now.”
― 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

“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

“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

“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 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

“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

“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

“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

“Cerebral palsy is like the “Go to Jail” card in Monopoly: No matter where you are, it always shoots you back to zero. In my case, that’s birth, day one of CP.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“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

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

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

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

“M,”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It

“amazing.”
― Jamie Sumner, Roll with It