"No distance for a handicapper"

I try to write about how I feel living as a disabled person but it is difficult for me, since I am not a professional writer.  Every once in a while a professional does articulate how I feel.  A case in point, the October 5^th article in The New York Times titled “A Disabled Life is a Life worth Living.”

Ben Mattlin, the author, is correct in stating, “We seek fair treatment, rightful access to everything in society — jobs, and romantic prospects, and so on. Highlighting the downside of disabilities seems counterproductive and self-pitying”.

Mattlin comments that living with a disability is to understand the fragility of life. Most of my friends are as Mattlin goes on to say, “at the pinnacle of their careers, and I’m just getting by. I shouldn’t complain, I tell myself. Unemployment among disabled people is crushingly high”.   Today, my work, which used to define me, is limited to volunteer work.  The work is satisfying but not rewarding.

I continue to evaluate the bright side of a disability. I am a “problem solver’ as Mattlin points out. I have found devices to help me cook, which is my passion. I have Hope, which allows me to walk, unaided by a human. I can also write with my non-dominant hand. Transportation is no longer an issue thanks to Uber, Bob, and my assistant, Donna.  I problem-solved my way to get to Guatemala for Christmas to attend a Spanish immersion school

It is a hassle to devise alternative methods to complete simple activities of living, a “so called normal life”. But when I figure alternatives out, I am liberated.

Thanks for listening.

Read the article for more insight