Today, we met Michael Renkiewicz, 31, to follow him through a typical day in his life. Michael has worked at Kroger in Novi, Michigan for 5 years and explained to us how much he enjoys his job, especially the people; he loves interacting and talking with his work friends and all of the customers. His parents, Ginger and Rick Renkiewicz, are very supportive of Michael and his job.

Ginger talked openly about how they only found out that Michael had Down syndrome after he was born at U of M Hospital. In the same breath, both Ginger and Rick expressed how enriched their lives are because of Micheal.

Ginger states, “I think Michael’s superpower is that extra chromosome. So many times in discussing it with someone else I say, he’s got too much of a good thing, he’s got a little more of the good thing than the rest of us have and that’s his superpower.”

After we filmed Michael and Ginger going through their routine, having coffee and the drive to work, we captured Micheal’s enthusiastic personality talking with customers as he bagged groceries. The store manager, Ashley MacCormick, says Michael is always positive and brings light to the workplace environment. In addition to his love for work, Michael also enjoys golfing, bowling, boating, working on the camaro with his dad and brother, vacationing with his family, and attending Michigan football and Red Wing hockey events. It was such a pleasure getting to know Michael and witness his positive influence on the community.