Broken Lives Matter

Dear friends. Summer is lingering, at least here in the Midwest. I'm reminded how nice the sand feels on bare feet, and how much it means for the Disabled to be included in the day to day joys of summer activities. Why shouldn't we all enjoy a beach?  <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMisaOnWheels%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0b9QRjXQCKfaJf6MoCFZ3tsFWyPP5t6aGkNscVBoE5absinXC4Kik29h2dP2TkBqSl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="250" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

From the Facebook Reels of Michael Kutcher:   https://www.facebook.com/stories/109715777626156/UzpfSVNDOjE4NzQzNDU0MjY0MjI4NTc=/?view_single=1

 Hello Lovelies!      I feel called upon. Let's number the ways to love, and expound on the feelings behind, this quote that clearly resonates with many. Not to mention send a little love to the very one who said it, son of a political candidate.      In my humble opinion, this child, who struggles with challenges I was unable to find details of, has also in one moment restored a sense of wonder and appreciation for human effort in this world. It's an appreciation that I think has been very much overshadowed and even belittled in the world today, as if it were childish and something to malign.       Why shouldn't  we stand in admiration of this simple yet profound statement, no matter who said it? There are those in this country who mock simplicity and disregard the statements of the disabled, preferring to stay in their bubble of "these people are different and therefore inferior." On the contrary, it is these pure souls and k...

Context: "Hymmne a l'amour" is Paris' National Anthem You guys! Check out what happened in France, this gorgeous day before the Opening Ceremonies commence on the Seine this evening:  https://www.facebook.com/reel/1438108896833025 According to a little Google Translate-sleuthing, the rough interpretation is this: "Kevin Piette, paraplegic since an accident, made history by carrying the Olympic flame with his exoskeleton" I could not be more excited! A torch-bearer in the able Olympics, and not even the Para-Olympics--displaying openly that persistence is key:) Of course I'm not denigrating what the athletes in the Para-Olympics do, or how important those Games are to sports everywhere. However, how cool is it that the "regular" Olympics are recognizing that an athlete is an athlete, a man is a man--regardless of the challenges he faces? Had to share this timely gem with all of you; it will inspire me  throughout these coming Games of the "...

Look what they're doing at Mary Free Bed! It's a great way to get kids sweating and smiling in the sun, getting some fun exercise. And I imagine the kids not in a wheelchair are learning a lot about patience and compassion as well:)   https://www.facebook.com/stories/105480941615842/UzpfSVNDOjQ3NTQzODU4MTc5ODU0Mg==/?view_single=1

Good Afternoon, Lovelies, Lately I've seen a lot of evidence that the world is waking up. They see how my community can contribute to society, and they celebrate it. It's a far, far cry from just five years ago when I despaired of us ever being seen. A case in point of this new reality is a post I scrolled past on Facebook. Right there for the world to see, praising the purity and honesty in this world that is often anything but. Beginning to use Uber was indeed, for me, a giant leap outside of my comfort zone. The kindness of my drivers has taken the anxiety mostly out of the equation! Indeed, last time I rode in a "stranger's" car, they were sweet, and even ten minutes early! I have also learned that Uber strives to be an amazingly inclusive company! I thought perhaps the perks ended with benefits to riders with disabilities only, but this sign proves that they make concessions for drivers with disabilities as well. I couldn't love the added bit about music ...

Hello Lovelies! Sharing a reel that I really love. Because it shows how indiscriminate love is. We all know it when we feel it. There is no one excluded, and it doesn't all look the same. The message of this month, celebrated across the country for  LGBTQIA+  identities and lifestyles, is that "love is love" in all its iterations wherever it shows up. These two individuals don't look  the same as other people, who might believe that in order for love to be "real" it has to look a certain way. So they try to make us be small and manageable so the "typical" lovers don't feel uncomfortable. When my late fiancee and I would talk about it, I always mused of the outsiders, "they think it's cute that we're in love." Call me old-fashioned or foolish or hopelessly naive--all three are possible. But in my heart I know this. Love just is. What love is. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww....

 Hello Lovelies! Just an inspiring bit of happiness for you on this Tuesday: <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FDadSaysJokes%2Fvideos%2F314651621695534%2F&show_text=true&width=380&t=0" width="380" height="591" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

 Isn't this lovely? Some people do just see a soul they love. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FConsignmentsOnMain%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02R8Zu5UPGzpbn8B2LyqtPefRiGQxbiRUuYWbbe3GETDtr1honrfF6p6yeDhR8m2PEl&show_text=true&width=500&preview=comet_preview" width="500" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

Surprising Myself With Vulnerability  Hello Lovelies! This isn't exactly a disability or even a definable impairment. But it is something that I find challenging--interpersonal relating:) Luckily for me, and much to my surprise, a lot of people join me in this predicament. It doesn't come easy. I thought I'd share some of my observations, in hopes that we could all learn something. First, a visual: <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Flacancircleofaustralia%2Fposts%2Fpfbid031zas1AWUyHSv71GLEiph4qW1jWSaiNnzHGztnDxhhZzd9tzcu5TXjTMpsT472qoUl&show_text=true&width=500&is_preview=true" width="500" height="615" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe> This makes it ever so difficult to...

I thought this was so interesting. Not only can I personally relate, I was reminded of the late actor Heath Ledger's behavior during his last interview. Since his accidental death in 2008, psychologists have pointed out how he kept touching himself and seemed like he couldn't get comfortable in the interview chair:( My heart hurts anew for anyone having suffered a panic attack they had to conceal. Lord, those things feel for all the world like you're going to die of a heart attack.  https://www.facebook.com/reel/399239253085235

 I love this so much. Make what needs  to be, exactly what you want. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMisaOnWheels%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02Y3uAf3eWNdngHHiJnGhYzH531wBZ5mzPd3QdXvzDa1shUt9gxPevKCz8ekeHZwRgl&show_text=true&width=500&is_preview=true" width="500" height="497" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

 Hello Lovelies! Just today I started following somebody new who reminds me of Michael. He's wheelchair-bound but commands respect with his presence. It's the kind of person I've always aspired to be. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAntSNS%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0cr4BDM6joetULH12etfT69F24aQkA8JNj1qnVHdNpqE1FBh5he9p1HLZCh3tpCCTl&show_text=true&width=500&is_preview=true" width="500" height="589" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

Hello Lovelies! Just wanted to share how nice I've felt lately. It has been a revelation, discovering through multiple reels and posts and comments that I've been wrong about myself all along. I grew up thinking that because I get quiet in social situations, or because I hyper-fixate on different things all the time that consume my attention until I gradually wean myself off of them, there was something seriously wrong with me. I thought my inability to connect with people or make eye contact during small talk that I would die alone. And I had almost become comfortable with this. I was ready to accept it. Alone. How amazing it has been to see that "wrong" was entirely wrong. Thinking there was something fundamentally "unfixable" about me, resigning myself to eternal solitude to avoid the pain of stares and misunderstanding and ignorance did not  have to be my fate. I didn't have to feel like I was too much for this world. Somebody out there is willing to...

 This is just a really cool little photo I thought I'd share: https://www.facebook.com/groups/981878396466340/permalink/1126391062015072/

 Hello Lovelies! Revelations have been had just now. So this week I have been really  struggling with regulating my sleep schedule. A lot. I stayed up allllll night the night before the eclipse and ended up sleeping through the whole darn thing. Why did I stay up, you ask? Because I wasn't tired. I had done the exact same thing the night and day before. I've never  had a regulated schedule. Not even really when I was little. It's to do with the hospital stays and then the recovery and inactivity I think. I started out today being kind of down on myself; I've struggled all week with not hating myself for being so "abnormal". I should be like everyone else, right? At least that's what society would have me believe. Then just now I saw this wonderful reel that spurred me to action. It is wonderful these days, as I am relearning who I am as a more emotionally mature adult, to see things that vindicate my suspicion that there was never anything "wrong...

Hello Lovelies! Yes, it's been a minute. But let's not dwell on the past; some truly wonderful reels have been showing up in my feed, and I wanted to share one with you! Let me count the ways I love this video by Anthony Ferraro. Number 1, I love it because like Molly Burke, he is blind and giving us all a glimpse into his daily struggles and considerations that otherwise, I admit that even I wouldn't necessarily have thought of. Although there have definitely been times in my life when using my sense of touch, my tactile perception-- in addition to  my visual perception has helped me identify an object. Also because I lack most depth perception (one of my eyes turns nearly entirely inward toward the center), I have difficulty always being aware of the space around me. My spacial awareness or "place in the universe", if you like, isn't always immediately apparent. So I too have had to find ways of combating this problem, and attempt to be graceful when grace i...

 Hello Lovelies! I've had to take some personal time; this has been quite a roller coaster month. I'm sharing (perhaps for the second or maybe third time?) a little neurodiversity reel that touches my heart every time. Understand that when those of us with challenges--be they physical or  mental--feel understood by one person, it means the whole world . We struggle every single day just to exist in environments where our very existence was never accounted for. Better not seen and not heard, right? So when Lewis Capaldi felt understood in his challenges by thousands of concert goers?! My friends, I'm sure that none of us can even imagine what that felt like. You see him raise his eyebrows slightly as the crowd takes over for him, and just stand there listening for a moment. Then even as his tics from Tourette's Syndrome progress Capaldi sings one note, trying to join in the amazingly accepting moment, but he realizes he can't, bless him, and ultimately departs the st...

 Hello Lovelies! I found this video fascinating. For one thing, I've asked (and tried to determine) if I am Autistic even just by a little bit--throughout my life. And indeed, as a younger person I was quiet, introverted to a fault, and nearly non-verbal in a classroom. Turns out, I was just in entirely the wrong situation for my own learning style. A classroom full of almost-strangers is intimidating! Not to mention the colors, displays, learning tools and distractions all around me could be extremely detrimental to someone with sensory overload, which brings me to the first point. Temperature Regulation Issues My friends, the speaker in this video explains it so much more concisely than I could, but let me tell you, it's been a problem. I'm actually surprised that temperature regulation issues are specific to Autistic people in this reel, because it has been a problem for me that a number  of factors contribute to, not just neurodiversity. Who among us hasn't at one p...

Hello Lovelies! I've just looked at the forecast; come Monday the disrespectfully low temperatures and their wind chills, along with the mounds and mounds of fluffy white frozen marshmallow snow that causes depression will all begin to disappear! Personally, I cannot wait; I'm counting the hours. Meanwhile, I present you the cutest little snuggle button I've ever seen, small enough to snuggle in a tissue box, but he'd probably hate that because it would bother his arthritis:) I call him Toddy, though I bet he has a different name. What would YOU name this little bit? https://www.facebook.com/reel/2370445169827485