Acceptance

 Anybody who used to be able bodied and now isn’t has to come to terms with the reality of the situation. It’s not at all easy and I’m still struggling with it. I overheard a woman giving a pep talk to another patient (in therapy) that she’s too cute to use a cane. It’s funny but coming to terms with your new circumstance is the only way to get beyond it.

I’m sure that there are many reasons why people become disabled but the main ones I see are cancer and stroke. I’ve met so many awesome people in therapy and it’s such a bummer that able bodied people don’t and won’t take the time to find out how awesome some disabled people are. Some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met were in therapy. There was this really talented tattoo artist who gave himself gorgeous tattoos and had issues with speech. He was so genial. He said hello whenever he saw me. I’m bummed that people won’t have the chance to know him.

Suddenly being disabled is like being in mourning but nobody died. It’s a weird thing to try to explain. You only “get it” if it happens to you and to a lesser degree if you know someone who it happened to.