Like so many other people with CP, the day of my birth was a very bad day for my mother. I arrived early, with the cord wrapped around my neck.
It is so good to be alive, I want to offer up gratitude and thanks for the people who worked so hard to save my life on the day I was born. Thank you, it is good to be alive.
I got lucky. It was mitigated. Clearly there was work that was done in the first couple of minutes to keep the brain damage to a minimum. CP covers a very wide impact spectrum. The damage is very real, but it’s also very moderate. Occasionally it’s a difficult experience, but I am able to function at a very high level.
Because I am disabled I have met some extraordinary people who have truly constributed to the quality of my life. My beloved is an amazing human being who has his own membership card to the disabled planet. Because he qualifies, he can see me as a woman, and is able to love me “exactly as I am.” I am the beloved wife of a good man, and in our house “normal” is a setting on the washing machine. If I were not disabled, would we have this quality of love and compassion for each other?
There is J. J is retired. She is post polio and has multiple other issues, including a much higher level of chronic pain than I deal with. When she tells me that I get 10 minutes on the “self pity pot” a day, I listen. After 10 minutes, it’s time to get up and go do something to make the world a better place. I’m glad we are friends.
I could go on and on. The people I have met are truly amazing human beings. I make the thought experiment, could we rewind back to day one and change the reality? That suggests that to be disabled is some kind of disaster that is to be avoided at all costs. I feel like I want to stand my ground with my disabled brothers and sisters. I am so grateful for all the ways that I am the way I am. I need help to age gracefully, but my life is exactly as it should be.
It is good to be alive.
