Leaving my hometown for college was a large step. Taking the risk of living somewhere different from a place of comfort. Because, living with cerebral palsy becomes more simplistic when surroundings are familiar. Having an understanding of the physical environment of each day. The knowledge of familiarity helps with the unpredictability of executing physical tasks. … More Not Quite Ready

Raising my hand was the natural action. Life had been spent in the shadow of others. Living in the background of many relationships. Feeling as though cerebral palsy was to blame for the position. It remained less complicated to follow the wishes of other people. Taking the ideas, they suggested for my life. Then, executing … More My Hand Was Raised

There has been a feeling with cerebral palsy challenging to shake. The emotion of becoming more than has been expected. Continuously striving to go beyond the limitation of my disability. Instead of exploring what those limitations might have been. Each time my expectations of myself were not met was detrimental. Detrimental to my ability in … More I Tried to Be

He looked the way it felt inside. Like he had been left alone for some reason. They talked about trances he would find himself inside. Trances they were making fun of behind his back. His actions didn’t appear all that abnormal from my view. Possibly kind of a loner, but appearing to be kind. There … More We Began

Pictures were taken of us two. It seemed a way of saying goodbye. She would have laundry to get done the following night. As he and I planned on meeting up at the bar again. This time, including the company of another friendly face. Another friendship of many years, who we didn’t visit with often. … More Everything Falling Apart

He says you have no friends. He says he protects you from being bullied. It was news to me, coming out of an evening conversation. The significance of the moment didn’t register at the time. Something to fight against was the thought in my head. The reason for these statements bouncing around the mind. She … More Ability to Listen

The noise of life can cause distraction. Chaos entering the mind with calls to action. Getting lost in the world of peer pressure. Voiding the thoughts of our inner selves. Ignoring anything guiding us onto the path opposing social opinion. While social opinions arise from the people we have chosen. The friends chosen to spend … More In the Quiet

The idea of broken parts doesn’t seem to make sense as kids. In my life, the words weren’t part of the vocabulary. Unless we were speaking on something mechanical. Some kind of part was broken on an engine. There might have been a broken piece on my bicycle. A part needed replacing before advancement could … More Broken Parts

It seems many times life boils down to decisions. Choices we make, guiding our lives in one direction or the other. Sometimes our decisions might carry small consequences. Like shopping for groceries, wondering if you feel like apples or bananas for a given week. Realizing in the back of your mind, a mistake can be … More Choosing

Anger has been a part of my life for many years. The reasons for getting angry have seemed mysterious. Though each time anger boiled into rage became uncomfortable. Once the rage episode concluded, negative feelings always remained. Lacking understanding over the root cause for each explosive act. It has been an intense time of learning … More Controlling Anger