Musical birthday memories

“In Xanadu, did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree…” So sayeth Olivia Newton-John in one of my all-time favorite movies: Xanadu. I love this 1980 film that was billed as, “A Fantasy, A Musical, A Place Where Dreams Come True.” I love its music, storyline, the roller-skating, and its abundant cheesiness. And I love how it takes me back to my childhood. I’ll admit it: The summer my parents first got cable television at our house, I watched Xanadu 21 times. Every time I laced up my skates that summer I pretended to be ONJ’s character, Kyra. The...

The Blame Game

As I was reading at the dining room table, I heard a car and then my husband’s voice. “Strange,” I thought. “Maybe Dan ran into someone he knew while he was out on his run.” So I kept reading, only to be horrified when I saw Dan walk in the front door. His right eye socket, left hand and knee and white wicking running shirt all were covered in blood. “Oh, no,” I cried. “Oh, no. Dan, what happened?” Dan dabbed his eye with the blood-soaked blue napkin he received from the kind stranger who gave him a ride home. He was trying to calm himself and me down...

I’ve been thinking…

I spent a large part of my summer thinking and learning about disability. Sounds silly right? After all, I shouldn’t need to learn about disability since I live it—having relied on a wheelchair for the last ten years, but now I see disability differently. I better understand the societal, financial, and political realities of having a disability. Plus, I know that there is more to disability than not being able to walk. Disability includes many other deficits, be that hearing, vision, or cognition. And I realize this not only because of my graduate classes at CMU...

Speaking of hotel accessibility

When my dear friend Jen became engaged to “The One” (Adam), my friends and I were prepared for a great shin-dig! Oops, I mean a very beautiful, elegant wedding. No one would have expected anything less from Jen. After all she was our go-to party-planning maven. As we expected, she took care of every wedding detail. I was particularly touched because in all of their wedding plans, the happy couple thoughtfully made sure their wedding would be accessible for me and my wheelchair. I’m pretty sure Jen and I made the hotel staff crazy with our repeated questions such as,...

My MS lesson

On May 12, Dan and I will join our friends and family in Frankenmuth, Mich., for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s largest fundraiser, Walk MS. The walk is always a great event; good people, good times, an exciting atmosphere, weather that is often awful but despite that, the day is always wonderful. This is the 10thyear for our walk team, Team MonsterS. And I am the lucky captain of the team, which was among the state’s top 100 fundraisers in 2011. Yes, I’m so proud of our team. Which makes it ironic when earlier this week my mom asked, “Don’t you...