May 31, 2022 | Accessibility, Disabilitiy, Dogs, faith, Friends, Independence, Uncategorized, Wheelchair |
Any joyful spirit I would usually have on Christmas Eve morning was lost on me that year as I waited for news I knew I probably didn’t want to hear. Tightness squeezed a shallow breath out of my chest as I heard the raspiness in Dr. Tom’s voice through the phone. The...
Oct 30, 2021 | caregivers, communicating respect, compassion, disability etiquette, Friends |
“Lorraine, are you okay?” The sound of my name and the concern in his voice pulled me back into consciousness. High fever and a severe kidney infection had made me sick for days, and when Matt came into my room that evening, I had been asleep for a long...
Nov 11, 2018 | Attitudes, Friends, Getting to know people, how to help, overcoming challenges |
“Do you need a ride?” The question caught me off guard. Not because I didn’t have the need, but because of who it came from. Will Katz is the Director of the Small Business Development Center at KU and over the years I have met him several times....
Feb 18, 2018 | Ableism, Advocacy, America, Disabilitiy, Discrimination, Friends, inclusion, Politics |
A few days ago, a friend of mine sent me a video. (Thanks, Beth!) It profiled Kevan Chandler, a young man who is a wheelchair user because he is affected by Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Kevan loves to travel, but because of his disability, he was limited to only going to...
Feb 13, 2018 | Disabilitiy, Friends, loneliness, Love, Romance, Wheelchair |
Happy Valentine’s Day Eve. Or as I like to call it, Single’s Awareness Day. It used to be that I was among the cynical about this holiday, thinking like so many others that it was an occasion invented by Hallmark cards, Hershey’s chocolate and every...
Apr 12, 2017 | Ableism, Advocacy, changing perspectives, communicating respect, Disabilitiy, Friends, inclusion |
It was a beautiful and crisp October day a couple of years ago when I met Chris. As Director of Community Health at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, he, like me, wasn’t officially one of a team of people spearheading the effort to renovate East Ninth...