It’s
National Disability Awareness Month and here’s the top 10 things to love about
having disability (at least mine):
1.
I love that I’m
so memorable; you never forget the handicap gal you met at a party.
2.
I love that my
shoes with a custom disability walking lift cost me twice what your designer pumps
cost and they’re still butt ugly!
3.
I love that the
first question people ask me is, “what happened to your leg?” The conversation then
ends, and they walk away after I answer.
4.
I love that my
dates want to just “be friends” after seeing my disabled walk.
5.
I love that you
treat me like I’m normal until I get up and walk in front of you; then your jaw
then drops to the floor when you realize I’m disabled and you avoid looking me
in the eyes again.
6.
I love that my
resume has to “look good enough” that you forget any preconceptions you because
of my disability as you watch me limp out of your office.
7.
I love that with
my handicap it takes me four times as long as others without a disability to
accomplish basics tasks, like cleaning the house, folding laundry, or walking
to my car.
8.
I love that
people ask if I can have sex with my handicap, and when I answer, “yes,” they
have that stupid look of disbelief on their face as their lips whisper, “how?”
9.
I love that
despite what I’ve endured to rise above my disability and get to where I am—a
successful, professional, with a blessed life (and a disability), that I can be
a real vindictive bitch and wish that tomorrow you wake to the nightmare of “walking
in my shoes”; an experience that can be simulated by walking all day in public with
only one shoe that has a three-inch sole, and an arm that can’t extend more
than a foot from my body. For that is the only way I know to help you
understand what it feels like to live with my disability and be treated like
you’re disabled—if only for one day.
10. I love that in the spirit of National
Disability Awareness Month, I can share my innermost fears and disappointments
in hopes that it will inspire a future of inclusion for all. Perhaps that way
others don’t have to endure the decades of discrimination I faced because of a
disability.
AUTHOR’S
NOTE: If any of these ‘loves’ leave you with a sense of sorrow, shame, or embarrassment,
then my job as an author is done; may you be the strongest advocate for those with
a disability in the future as possible. On the other hand, if you have a disability
and felt inspiration or a heavy heart by this post, I invite you to ‘get in
conversation’ with your personal support group and communicate your ‘top ten’;
by doing so you are developing a new ‘muscle’ which I refer to as empowerment—which
will serve to pull you in a direction
that you want your life to take and help your support team understand your
struggles a tad more in order to help you get there.
