Hello...World!

by Jenny Addis

Hey Jen!

Someone close to me has a very similar story to yours, but unlike you, she is giving up.  It's been only three years since the car accident that caused her paralysis. I have seen your inspiring website and posts on Facebook and it’s obvious you are living life to the fullest. My friend has a child and so much to live for; I just want to help! How long did it take you to decide to rejoin the world?

 ~ Anonymous MW Reader

Hey Anonymous MW Reader!

I'd like to say I have a straightforward answer to your question, but I don't. I'll explain...

First, the feelings your loved one is experiencing are only natural. When an individual goes through such a life-altering, traumatic experience, especially being blindsided by it, there is no knowing how that person will react. Everyone deals differently with pain, grief, and loss. Some people are headstrong and determined from the start, while others melt, breakdown and give up. Is there a right or a wrong way to deal with it? In my opinion, no! What matters is how we overcome the stumbling block and what path we then choose.

March is Women’s History Month! Let’s Get Rolling!

by Bethany A. Hoppe: Raspberry Vogue

March is National Women’s History month, which dates back to the first International Women’s Day in 1911. Much like “traditional history,” where women have been left out of the majority of our pivotal moments in history, women with disabilities have been left out of our collective oral and written histories, too.

Studying women with disabilities in relationship to the feminist movements has become a rather new adventure for me. I know that I was born at a critical time on many levels. In 1970, The Disability Rights Act, which began its movement in the mid-1960’s, was written into law.   

Also, on a personal note, the year I was born, surgeons at Buffalo Children’s Hospital, New York, took brave and drastic measures to set the course for my life, having been born premature with Spina Bifida. Family legend has it that the surgeons argued over my body on the table. Thankfully, the innovative, aggressive physician won, and in an unprecedented move, he surgically broke my back and reset it,  thereby eliminating a lifetime of pressure, pain, and the need for a shunt. 

I believe I was born in an excellent year.