Meet Jimmy! Just 1 of our spokespeople for 2012!

Making a healthy snack @ Friends Life.

It was another great year for Jimmy, and music again figured prominently. Some of the seeds were planted at the end of 2010. Last December his beloved Dolphins swim team had a holiday party, and he sang some Christmas songs. By the end of the night he'd been invited to sing the national anthem at a track and field meet at Father Ryan high school in the spring.

He was soon invited to sing the national anthem at a couple of swim meets as well. The invitations kept coming, and I believe he eventually sang the Star-Spangled Banner at six Special Olympics events in 2011.

I know it's always special to Jimmy to sing in front of his fellow athletes, but the track meet was extra-special. Heather Jensen from Channel 2 was there and featured Jimmy prominently in her report. It was surreal to see a TV reporter interviewing my nephew. Another highlight in Jimmy's national anthem spring tour was the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics statewide Summer Games. What an honor!

Jimmy also got a chance to sing for the Vanderbilt University a capella group the Melodores. He sang the pop hit Grenade a full octave higher than he'd practiced and somehow made it work.

All this was amazing, but the most unreal singing gig of all was far from home. Jimmy and his his colleagues at the Kennedy Center's music camp were invited to accompany Darius Rucker to perform the song the campers had written the previous summer. The venue? The Academy of Country Music Awards Show, broadcast live on CBS in early April from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas!

But before the big event there was a publicity photo and video shoot. One of the pictures with Jimmy, his friend Stephanie, and Darius found its way to the main Vanderbilt web page. For a few days they had top billing, even ahead of my old physics professor and his exciting new theory of time travel! I knew then that we'd entered some sort of twilight zone!

It was more unreality in Vegas. The first night at practice Jimmy met Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry, and she asked him who his favorite country music singer was. He said Taylor Swift. I'm all for honesty is the best policy, but gosh, Jimmy, it's not always so black and white in the real world. I couldn't pass up this teaching moment.

"For future reference," I told him, "the next time a pretty country music star asks you who your favorite country music star is, the correct answer is 'you are now!'"

Jimmy and his friend Betsy had the great privilege of representing the campers in the media. Before the show they were interviewed on the red carpet, broadcast live on Great American Country! Jimmy was in a zone during that interview and the others, speaking like a seasoned, media-savvy veteran of such occasions.

Vegas was one unreal experience after another, but the granddaddy of them all was the actual performance at the awards show, watched live by millions. Darius and the campers did such a great job. Their song, Music From The Heart, truly was music from the heart. The standing ovation started well before the song ended and spread like a wave throughout the arena. These sweet impressions retain their dreamlike quality in my mind.

But this year wasn't all fun and games. In late May Jimmy finished the vocational training program Project Opportunity, and they helped him find a job in the kitchen of the Vanderbilt Hospital. Thus Jimmy officially became a working stiff! The job is challenging in many ways, but he has handled everything impressively. He's officially the breadwinner in the family now, making almost $11 per hour.

Gainful employment didn't mean it was all work and no play for Jimmy. In August he had the great opportunity to sing I Can Only Imagine and How Great Thou Art at the Habitat for Humanity conference in Murfreesboro.

This year Jimmy also joined his church--Hicks Tabernacle--and all three of its choirs! When he sang I Can Only Imagine for the first time at church, I guarantee it was every bit as chill bump-inducing as what happened in Vegas.

In the fall Sports 4 All (an organization that facilitates the enjoyment of sports for disabled people) picked Jimmy as one of their spokespeople for 2012. If anyone was ever qualified to be a talker, I think we can all agree he's the man.

Jimmy loves his affiliations, and working for Vandy has cultivated a strong affection for their sports teams. For the record, he sees a bright future in football if Vandy doesn't let Coach Franklin get away.

In early December Jimmy took his first paid vacation, and we went to Virginia. (Our Christmas card this year shows the fishing pier at Virginia Beach on December 7.) Of course the highlight of the trip for Jimmy was seeing his beloved former foster mother Kerry. In Tappahannock, VA, Jimmy was asked to sing at both his old elementary school and the Seventh Day Adventist church he used to attend. He advised the students at Tappahannock Elementary to work hard and stay in school.

Letter from Jimmy's uncle to Sports 4 All Foundation