I’d said ‘Hello’ to him the first time I saw him pushing himself around the mall, even though I knew he saw me he completely froze me out. “OK, then,” I thought, and didn’t acknowledge him again. It annoyed me a little bit because he’s a wheelchair user himself. He’s maybe only 10 years younger […]
Please, please, don’t get angry When I turn down help I don’t need. I just want to meet my needs not yours. Please, please, don’t get weepy When you see me out shopping Pity tastes bitter I ‘m not Tiny Tim I’m just getting groceries Please, please, don’t offer me prayers With your hands held […]
As soon as I saw the trailer for the movie, “The Star,” I knew that I wanted to see it with the kids. We set a time, on a school night, for us to pick the kids up at school and meet their mother at the movie theatre. We got them there early enough to […]
More than a few decades ago, I was a very different person. I mishandled a number of personal and professional relationships. Because a deep belief in my own unworth, I saw slights in sometimes the most innocent of gestures. I mistrusted friendships because my sole thought was that I was unlikable and hurt was the […]
We were leaving the arcade at the movie theatre and heading to get popcorn. We realized we didn’t know which hallway our theatre was located in. We saw an employee wearing the Cineplex uniform and called to him to ask and he smiled and pointed us in the right direction. We nodded thanks and went […]
Scrolling around the research on the lived experience of having a disability to find two studies, one British and one from the US. The British study showed that 1/4 of Britons would choose to avoid conversational contact with people with disabilities and the American one showed that neurotypical people are less willing to have social […]
We stopped at a mall that we know well, we needed a break and it’s perfectly placed for us to do so. Our usual entrance, the most accessible one, was under construction so we found parking around the back side of the mall at the other end. We got out. We went in. I started […]
Outside my window is a place I cannot go. The accessible room in this hotel has a lovely view of a trellised walkway through a beautiful green space.The surface on the walkway, for me as a wheelchair user, looks welcoming for a push after work. But this whole idyllic space is not meant for me, […]
It was quite the tussle. I had gone through the grocery line, picking up stuff for the hotel rooms we’d be staying in this trip, and was about to head off. I was getting my chair angled just right so I could push the cart and chair by myself. This is something I’ve learned to […]
How we ended up in the gym all signed up to play pickle ball is a long story in and of itself, but we’ve all got the ‘I’ve paid’ blue wrist bands and we were ready to go. I’d never heard of the game before, the girls shook their heads when asked if they’d ever […]
