I started this blog to share my real, regular life as a disabled person. I travelled, I tried to write, I got married, and had a kid. The fact that I’m a wheelchair user makes life interesting, but not undoable. I don’t try to overcome my disability, I prefer to work with it. I don’t want to undo my Cerebral Palsy, a positive outlook won’t change it, and I don’t want to. I am disabled and proud. My frustrations spring…
When Isla started nursery school, I stuck around for a while on her first day. She held my hand for a beat longer than usual, looked at me, and then went to play. From my wheelchair in the corner, I watched her play and tried not to mess with her moment. That day, she did things that made sense to people who were three. Playing alone together with other kids. After a while, a boy not unkindly asks my daughter,…
First, thank you to those of you who have emailed asking about the writing prompt that I was supposed to introduce on the first of the month. This is not a test, but I sometimes forget that people care what I have to say. What I don’t forget is that I should deliver on my promises to you groovy people. In related blogging news, I’ve been hanging out on Twitter more and I answered this thread from Jon Sennett (not…
Delete ‘I can’t’ from your vocabulary. ‘I can’t’ gets five pushups. ‘I can’t’ means ‘I won’t’ No, it doesn’t. Sometimes, I can’t means I can’t. Or I’d really like to, or I’m trying. But I can’t. I can’t means don’t ask me, or ask me something else, or mind your own business. Sometimes, I can’t means I’ll do it later, because I’m hurting right now, and I’m trying. Sometimes, I can’t means I’m sorry, but I don’t want to. And…
When I was getting married, I only had a few must-haves for my wedding dress. 3. Wedding dress must not make me look like a giant cupcake and/or little girl playing dress up. 2. Wedding dress must be purple. And my number 1 on my wedding dress list: The dress and I had to both sit comfortably in my wheelchair at the same time. I had to wear the dress, the dress could not wear me. When I was growing…
