I took a day off from writing just to process the full impact of my mothers passing. These really are life changing events so we often need time to just let them settle. I am sitting here in Calgary while my brother and sister have travelled to BC to actually work out all of the … Continue reading As Trauma Moves Through Our Life
Tag: Disability
The Early Morning Phone Call
I was awaken this morning at 4:45AM by a phone call. I am use to wake up calls. Every morning, Monday through Friday, I receive morning homecare, supposedly, to assist me out of bed. At least that is what the Alberta government, Integrated Home Care - Seniors Care would have you believe. An aide arrives, … Continue reading The Early Morning Phone Call
We Have Always Been Here
Chapter 2 (A) Over the years I have been asked (or told) often "why did we never see disabled people growing up"? Maybe you did but you didn't realize it. For years the disabled were "warehoused" in facilities. It was only through the development of human rights over the past fifty years or so that … Continue reading We Have Always Been Here
Rut or Routine?
I began this many years ago simply as a "story telling" exercise for the sole purpose of capturing "one persons perspective" of growing up with a disability. That perspective was mine and I have come to realize over the years that I have been all over the map with my focus, to much activism and … Continue reading Rut or Routine?
Polio, Really
"Americans spend more money on Botox, face lifts and tummy tucks than on the age-old scourges of polio, small pox and malaria". - Victor Davis Hanson I no longer know where to start these days but as a polio survivor (1953 and I was a 3 year old) there is absolutely no reason for polio … Continue reading Polio, Really
What Are We Doing…or not doing?
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” - John Adams Junior Red Cross Hospital for Crippled Children (1957) The above quote was attributed to former President John Adams in in 1765. I feel it is applicable today as it … Continue reading What Are We Doing…or not doing?
A Confluence of Events
"Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive" - Andy Grove Fighting Complacency Today marks my 69th anniversary of my initial polio diagnosis. I had thought of putting my meanderings to bed and hadn't really planned on writing these anymore but here I am. I have spend the last five weeks trying to … Continue reading A Confluence of Events
And the Contrary Continues
Like any good beginning I still like to open with a little quote. Today is an example of how I am viewing the contrary nature of these so called "Freedom Rallies" I quote Albert Camus with "Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object." Going out on … Continue reading And the Contrary Continues
A Day in the Erosion of Life
"Freedom's just another way for nothing left to lose" - immortalized in song by Janis Joplin however written by Chris Kristofferson Rethinking life I am so pissed off right now I probably shouldn't be writing. However when you wake up at 5AM, and my first thought is how threatening this convoy is to my freedom, … Continue reading A Day in the Erosion of Life
Entitlement is Not Freedom
I like to open each session with, what I think, is an appropriate quote from the wisdom of other. Today I am reflecting on an insightful comment by actor and outspoken speaker on rights, Liev Schreiber. That is, and I quote, "I react very badly when mediocrity throughs a tantrum of entitlement". I share that … Continue reading Entitlement is Not Freedom
A Poster Child's Perspective 