Broken Lives Matter

This week has flown by, hasn't it? I can't even tell you what my Monday was like:( I've forgotten it completely in my prematurely senior brain! But a couple VERY interesting things have happened in the Disabled Community this week that I think everyone should be made aware of if they're not already. 1) The Government has begun quietly chipping away at Benefits for the Disabled--meaning SSI. I would love to say this is exaggerated, but I don't think it is. Listening to the kids on the Autism spectrum that I volunteer with, restrictions are getting much tighter, and it's becoming much more difficult to keep what you already have. I believe this actually comes from good intentions; the Government is trying to prevent people from taking advantage of the incredibly generous system Americans have for people with disabilities--which is very noble. But in the process, of course, those who qualify for benefits and/or subsidies out of genuine need are being burned. Li...

Good Evening, Lovelies! Weather predictions for this weekend are dire indeed. As much as poor New South Wales, Australia is burning--that's how much WE will be encased in ice this weekend. Isn't nature astounding? So I've made plans to exclude myself from EVERY possible equation this weekend. No braving the sidewalks around home to visit my favorite haunts, no riding the bus through rainstorms or ice squalls in hopes of finding the sidewalks in the suburbs nicely salted. Nope. I'll be home sweet home! Enjoying the quiet of a world under glass--so to speak--and waiting it out until the pedestrian walkways are as carefully de-iced as the roadways! I have high hopes that the forecasts were all exaggerated out of an abundance of caution so people would opt to stay home, but you never can tell. People get so used to ice and snow and the freezing cold that they brave it--and suffer the consequences--no matter what. When I think about it, I can't help but wonder if t...

I was flustered, just trying to get to a restroom in time. Ran into the public library (my old standby) and saw a woman walking into the big stall with no visible physical challenge or mobility aid. I called out and asked her, "would you mind? You don't need that." Which I should have finished with "--for your mobility aid" or "for your wheelchair" or whatever. But like I said, I was flustered and in a hurry. Maybe I SHOULD have just sucked it up and left my walker outside the stalls. I've done that before so...it's not like I'm not used to it. BUT that's exactly it; I've done it before; I didn't WANT to do it again. She came back with, "don't tell me I don't need it!" I imagine she isn't used to being told what she can or cannot do. She needs to sign the register:) If you're disabled in this country EVERYONE tells you want you can't do. The additional complication of the Disabled putting each ot...

Does this "geek you out" as much as it did me?!!!! The company that was (in another name) popular when I was a kid has made DISABILITY popular!!! Oh Lovelies, THIS is a big deal:)

Just a quick check-in, Lovelies! I had a wonderful Christmas, and truly hope all of you did too. Travel was a bit of a bear, of course, but you know how THAT goes:( At least I got a full refund on my train ticket when a cancelled the ride home in favor of a ride! Every time I complete a car trip I feel like the older great-aunt Bethany in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"--"Oh that was fun; I love riding in cars!" And now I have a wonderful weekend to just calm down and recover. Aren't you delighted? I know I am. But wasn't it amazingly warm and beautiful all week?! Almost nobody was wearing a coat. People were out raking leaves! And everyone was SO happy and relieved not to be dealing with ice and snow for a change. Freakin' Midwest. The weather can really make it difficult to live here:( But then out of nowhere, we're given the gift of a Hawaiian Christmas! Mele-kalikimaka, dear readers:) From the looks of the forecast we're in ...

Wow! So it's been a week since I posted! I guess sometimes my Facebook posts feel like I've shared enough of myself, leaving very little room for blog sharing:( So what can I say? Christmas is here! Well just about. I'm bound for home in a couple of days--just two! I still haven't packed! But I've been writing a list of things I don't want to forget to bring, for a week or two now. As of this moment I'm looking forward to the morning; it's mine and my fiance's "Christmas" from the year we were together. He loved the solstice, and I was too in love with him to mind that it wasn't "THE DAY." I think that's what love is all about; changing your routine and the other person changing theirs so the two halves can fit together:) Anyway, the best part of it for me, at the time, was that it was like I was a kid at Christmas again, all wide-eyed and excited:) I had that wonderful, exceedingly rare feeling like ANYTHING could hap...

Hello Lovelies! Just wanted to share an insight I've had into myself. I continually surprise myself with my clarity of thought. And not because things even SOUND all that good in my head. Or even coherent! Indeed, quite often the thoughts in my head are the opposite of coherent, which i would say is "adherent," but to use that word in reference to thoughts seems a bit more insane than I WANT to sound at the moment:) Here me out: sometimes I write my thoughts down--advice I've given, insights I've had into a situation, and they SOUND completely fragmented and disjointed in my head. I feel like I'm just babbling ideas into the air. Then, when I go back and look at them with fresh eyes and a little objectivity, they're magically crystalline and clear. Sometimes even poetic. And it WASN'T intentional! What do you suppose that means? I think we can rule out the possibility I should become a speaker or a member of the press. But what OTHER direction shoul...

Good Morning!! We've had steady snow all morning--it was even pretty heavy there for a while; but of course in this urban jungle, very little is sticking. It's still very pretty though, and I appreciate the non-threat to my bald walker tires! Which brings me to what I'm doing later! I finally got myself together enough to schedule a time and a ride to the medical supply place that supplies walkers to eligible patients, of which I am one! This is over a month past when I became eligible, granted, but I figured the longer I waited, the more legitimate my need would seem to the suppliers:) Chalk it up to my overthinking every single thing. And the timing could NOT be better. With this snow and possible ice, I'll need a heavier "vehicle" to navigate the sidewalks. Several of my friends have called it my chariot, which I suppose it is:) I walk behind it, LIKE a chariot. And Lord knows I'm too young for a legitimate "walker" like your grandmother h...

Hello Lovelies! Forgive my long, long absence. The holidays have descended on my life in full force! Also seasonal depression, which I found out recently is almost unique to the Midwest. Way out west (Alaska), the prolonged darkness just makes a person a little stir crazy, and out East they're very used to a daily, snowy, icy struggle. The European countries plunged in darkness are an entirely different story; the Danish are some of the happiest people in the world, for mastering the art of hygge (hoogah) living; coziness among the discomfort:) But I digress! Let me expound on the image I included in this entry. It is my very LEAST favorite patch of sidewalk downtown. Doesn't it look like the crags were DESIGNED to be there? Like whoever made the street said "let's give 'em another challenge". They put the least even, most insultingly broken piece of sidewalk right where pedestrians are BOUND to go. And at the moment it's even right before an art stu...

SO silly proud of my local physical therapy/physical recuperation center, Mary Free Bed! Just look how inclusive they are:)

Good Morning, Lovelies! I found this wonderful article I thought I'd share with you. There is SO MUCH stigma around mental disabilities--most of it stemming from misunderstanding, even in today's more "enlightened and tolerant" world. My hope is that eventually, someday, two things will happen that have the potential to change EVERYTHING. First, just on a personal level, I would like to see the world realize "physical disability" does NOT mean "mentally handicapped." I mean come on guys, yes the body and brain work in concert much of the time, but there are exceptions. Just because we have limitations or are not as strong in body as the next guy does NOT mean there's "nothing going on upstairs." We could in many ways be smarter than YOU! Remember that, for my sake. The next thing I hope society will one day get over is the idea that having a mental disability is in and of itself a bad thing, and something to hide or be ashamed of....

This is the most perfect thing ever:) And since he couldn't let go of the other guys to hold her, I'm sure this wonderful moment also made her appreciate even more what she DID have to give her--a warm embrace.

This is not one of my posting days, but kinda close to it! Can you believe this?! So happy for him:)

As I start a very exciting weekend of beautiful weather and cleaning house (yay), I share THIS very awesome meme. What a great perspective for all of us. It's not you, it's THEM:

This is how life should be; people of all abilities. Let's just dance together.

Morning, Lovelies! It's obscenely early, and I don't really have a long time to write, but it's been kind of a long time since I DID write, so I felt obliged:) I'm up this early because I am soon to take the train to Chicago for a short, sweet, marvelous weekend with friends and family. Just now I was terribly surprised when I called for a cab and said "I'm going to the train station" not to get the standard follow-up question of "where's that?" So often public transit is like another language to those with a car. The train station might as well be on the moon, for all most people know of where it is and how to cope without their own personal vehicle. Maybe that makes me and the like-minded unique. We've seen what life is like when it's up to you; there's no computer in your hand connecting you to someone's comfy car to whisk you anywhere you want to go, as with an Uber or a Lyft. You have to figure things out for yourse...

https://themighty.com/2017/04/my-disability-is-part-of-who-i-am/?utm_source=Disability_Page&utm_medium=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR14HZU_JGHb868hZHQuIquVvSeforIyovmIBT_1h1lICM46Yk3TDmI9nok This popped up in my Facebook feed, as I am a loyal follower of several disability sites. And it spoke to me on a very deep level about something I'm really just starting to realize. As the author Lisa, says in her article, it's taken me a while to come to terms with exactly what bothered me when people say "I don't see your disability." Now I realize it bothers me because to not see my disability is to to not see ME as I am. I mean, of course I don't want you to look down on me because I use a mobility aid. But that's just it--a mobility aid is not something to be looked down on! And therein lies the fundamental problem. In this American society, walkers and wheelchairs are for the elderly and infirm, who for various reasons don't fit the ideal image of what m...

Oh what a difference a few days make! I'm not locked in anymore:) I can get to church through my usual route, and not to mention all the other places along the road that used to be blocked! I visited restaurants along that street often, and the Contemporary Art museum is like a second home:) I took the long, round-about way to church today, but found out on my way home that I'm no longer boxed into a corner! So that was lovely. I feel like it's been 100 years since I stretched my legs. One thing did occur to me as Ableist while I was out walking. The supposedly "accessible" crossing signals that tell pedestrians when to cross assume WAY too much for the downtown area. They don't say "You are on--and it is safe to cross", they say "WAIT...WAIT" and "Walk, sign says walk," withe the street names preceding them. But think about it. If you were blind (or even if you just couldn't read the street signs from across the street...

This keeps showing up in my Facebook feed:)

Well, Lovelies...I'm at a loss! The construction situation downtown just keeps getting worse. I've ordered food delivery many times to avoid having to take a round-about way to the bus stop and cause my knees further discomfort. And it's better to leave as early as possible for church on Sunday, 'cause the only way to get THERE is all the way down the hill, then up and across a farther street:( And with the weather like it's been, I sweat profusely after just a few moments, though I'd have sworn I was in pretty decent shape. C'est la vie I guess. What an annoyance! I cannot wait for the day when it's cool enough to wear jeans AND a scarf around your neck, and walking my normal route to where ever I please isn't exhausting. In cooler weather I can do a mile without hardly even thinking about it. As it is, I feel every step and every divot in the broken roads they're NOT fixing.