Broken Lives Matter

Good morning, Lovelies! Coming to you this morning with a renewed sense of hope--FINALLY--and cautious optimism that some semblance of the life I knew nine months ago will return. My world is opening up! Things I previously enjoyed which have been off limits- the library, the art museum, and cinemas- they're all back! I have places to go again, beyond just restaurants. And restaurants lately have been a little bit of a disappointment, with masks and social-distancing (while necessary) making it feel like Rod Sterling should preface my entry with: "Imagine if you will...". Life has so OFTEN felt like an episode of 1950's "Twilight Zone." So far I haven't been to the library to discover how it's new precautions have changed the atmosphere inside, but I'm grateful to have the option. And I'm hoping to go to the movies this week to see how that has changed OR stayed the same. Ironically, the last movie I saw (on New Year's Eve, to esca

Hello Lovelies! This is what happens when I "try to be a normal person"--getting up early, completing multiple tasks throughout the day, eating a full and delightful dinner I made myself, then going to bed only AFTER forcing myself to clean up afterwards--I forget everything:) I forget my blog, and then oversleep the next day, becoming entirely discombobulated the next day and getting very little accomplished--except for the blog I'm adding to a day later than I wanted:) Years ago someone drew my attention to a meme about MS patients who "try to be a normal person" one day. The next frame was of the same MS patient asleep--"dead to the world"--on her bed, exhausted. From that I realized that all of us with physical challenges fight to "be normal" every day. While I know some incredible people who overcome said challenges with superhuman defiance every day to hold a laborious, steady job and contribute to the GDP--some of us aren't li

Good Morning! I submit to you the brief biography of an impressive young swimmer from across the pond:) Just a happy little proud moment to start your week: https://www.facebook.com/disabilitynetworkwm/posts/3486020494794079

Morning Lovelies! I missed last week--my fault. I couldn't even tell you what it was that kept me away from my blog last Monday, but such is life these days. In fact, in talking with a friend of mine who DOESN'T have any challenges and hasn't been isolating, and with just about everyone I know really, there is one constant: the struggle to feel normal again. Days blending into each other, sleep schedules disrupted, trying to remember to eat right and stay active despite ALL that's going on--we're still yearning. At the end of the day, nothing is the same as it was. And although over the past week and ESPECIALLY with the return of school, things have begun to feel "sort of" like they used to--they're not. And we know that. The thing I struggle with the most is the feeling that even when we DO come out of this pandemic eventually, we should not go back to exactly the way things were. The problem with that mindset is that almost nobody shares it:( A

Good morning, lovelies! This is going to be a very busy week for me; I have a lot of things planned/scheduled that have been on the agenda for weeks and weeks. The following got me thinking about "my agenda," which I rely so much on my phone for. I enter everything into my phone as little reminders throughout the day to keep me focused and help me get things done. What would I do if I couldn't flip open (yes I still have an "ancient" flip phone) my phone and read my plans for the day, or enter something new I didn't want to forget? What would I do if I couldn't read or write? There have been a lot of things I do as a matter of course (setting reminders on my phone for example) that have been portrayed by the Able community as kind of pathetic, and I have become more aware of it as I've grown older. Re-watching the late '80s-early '90s series "Unsolved Mysteries" has been a huge eye-opener. In his normal narration, the host regul

Hello Lovelies! I've had my hands full taking care of Miss Papaya and making sure she has everything she needs all week--or two? Who can tell in Quarantine when time doesn't matter? But I've dug up a video I've been saving, about a very sweet little dog named Mork who looks very different. And he has a little friend who ALSO turns heads in a "curious" way. Rings a bell with me. And I bet lots of people have said unpleasant things about HER within earshot as well:( Their story reminded me not only a little bit of my own (same challenges as Mr. Mork--Hydrocephalus and IBS to name a couple), but also of Pappy--as I call her. Indeed, who DOES know how long she's got here, being already such a regal age? But like Mork's English "mum" said--you just hang on and live the life:) That's what I'm doing for her, and she's absolutely loving it. Bossing me around, but also loving me to bits. I've already gotten lots of little harmless