Reprinted with permission from Houston Chronicle This Week.


By DEBRA WILLIAMS, Houston Chronicle correspondent

Tracy Cross of Pasadena is special, and not just because he was a New Year baby, born in the early hours of the first day of 1954.

Cross also was born with Type IV osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause, because of lack of collagen, which is key to the body's connective tissue.

He is wheelchair-bound, after having numerous broken bones and surgeries to correct them.

But what really makes Cross stand out is his ability to embrace life and live it fully.

He attended college, played in a band and most recently, opened a cruise agency in Pasadena to help disabled people like himself travel more comfortably.

Cross ' family had no idea he had OI, which in his case was caused by a spontaneous mutation.

When he was a toddler, he fell and broke his leg. When a similar event occurred a few months later, his doctor began to suspect child abuse, but soon diagnosed him with the brittle bone disease.

From the fourth grade on, Cross stayed home, taught by a special education teacher from Pasadena Independent School District.

When he was 12, Cross broke his femur while playing with a friend, which led to a steel rod being placed in his right leg. He was in a body cast for several months and eventually a wheelchair.

"I had kids that I played with, but after the surgery, I was put in a wheelchair for three or four years and I lost all of my friends. They just didn't want to come down and play with a kid in a wheelchair," he said.

To combat her son's loneliness, Cross' mother set him up with guitar lessons.

After a few years of lessons, he began teaching other neighborhood children to play. He and best friend, Charley Nelms, even had a band as teenagers.

After graduating high school, Cross attended San Jacinto Junior College.

"I remember the first day I went to class. I felt a little bit like I did the first day of third grade," he said. "I just felt a little overwhelmed by it and then, of course, I changed classes and that was a new theory. In third grade it was just one room."

Cross was using a walker then and found attending college to be very challenging physically, but he earned a degree in advertising art.

In 1989, his talent with the guitar surfaced again and Cross formed "The Party Favors" band along with Nelms and several others. Although he enjoys the money earned playing rock, country and blues, Cross says he plays because he loves it.

"I'm a pretty good guitar player. I'm not great, but I'm good enough to do what I am doing," he said. The band, which performs at private events, has opened for Don McLean and Neil Sedaka.

The business aspect of his life opened up in 1995 when Cross went on a cruise to Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

He described himself as a shut-in until that point and was apprehensive about going. Although he agreed to go, he was not convinced that he would enjoy himself. What he envisioned was being restricted to his cabin.

"I was walking with a cane at the time. I was thinking of stairwells that go straight up and straight down and climbing stairs," Cross said. "I was just thinking I wouldn't be able to get up and down the stairs. I was wrong, it was like a big hotel."

Cross surprised himself when he had a wonderful time.

"I found there were things I could easily do like river rafting or shopping," he said. "Let me tell you, I can shop. I did a little gambling in the casino.

"They had theaters if you wanted to see a movie, which I did. They had Las Vegas-type shows on stage nightly. There was your standard shuffleboard and bingo. In the daytime, we got off the ship and did some shore excursions. It was the time of my life. I had never had that much fun."

Not long after Cross was once again in surgery and, after being in a body cast for five months, he became wheelchair bound and was unemployed.

Cross, his wife, Martha, whom he married in 1998, and stepson, Ryan, found themselves in a difficult situation financially.

Cross realized he had to create his own job, and after researching numerous business opportunities, he learned about Connie George Travel Associates, a Pennsylvania-based travel agency helping disabled people.

Not all of Cross ' customers are disabled, but he does believe that he can offer the disabled something they cannot get from every agent.

"I can understand their situation," Cross said.

He said many agents are not interested in making arrangements for the disabled because of the added labor involved.

He described one customer who "had to have oxygen, a device to lift him from his wheelchair to his bed and both a manual and an electric wheelchair. We work with companies to get all of that equipment onboard the ship at a specific time and make sure they will be taken care of while onboard."

Life may have thrown Cross some punches, but he credits his family with giving him the strength to get through the tough times. Regardless of his numerous disabilities, he feels fortunate.

"Life is good. I have a son and a wife that I am in love with," Cross said. "I pretty much do what I want to do. I can't complain. I am very happy."

And feeling angry about his disabilities was never an option for Cross.

"I can't remember ever asking myself, `why me?' Growing up, there was nothing to be gained by it. Anyway, I never really thought I was different," he said.

Copyright: Houston Chronicle ThisWeek, 2002