Emerging Courageous online Magazine - Stories
Points
to Ponder by
Betty King
a handicap. It’s how you took at life that makes a disease or an illness a handicap. Everyone has a disadvantage to something. There are always barriers to overcome.
I remember when I first started using a wheelchair. My husband would push me up to a counter in a Department store and the person behind the register would address my husband as though I was incapable of speaking. Though I held the item to be purchased in my hand and gave them the money, I was ignored. “Yoo-hoo, it’s me here, I’m buying this item. I am going to wear it. It’s my money paying for it and I really can speak,” I felt like commenting. I have evolved somewhat now though; I see I have to over look their handicap. Ignorance, lack of knowledge or inexperience can be an impediment to overcome. It’s not that people don’t understand handicaps that cause problems, it's that they don’t understand life. Life is full of obstructions.
I now have a three-wheel-motorized scooter and doors keep getting in my way. Some people don’t understand that life is like that. You just have to find away to open it or ask for help. It’s no big deal, anybody can do it. Not many things in life worth doing are easy. But there is always a solution.
We have had to built ramps, widen doors, buy lifts and purchase items to accommodate my needs. Everyone has crutches of some sort. There are eye glasses, glass eyes, false teeth, braces, hair dye, teeth whitener, make-up, hair pieces and perfume. There are lots of aides involved in living.
Life is full of different types of terrain; there are hills, mountains, valleys, rocky roads and smooth highways. There are different ways to travel: crawl, walk, run, drive and fly. There are lots of people going somewhere and those going nowhere.
Just because a person is in a wheel chair or on a scooter doesn’t mean
that person has a bigger handicapped than someone hurrying on their way to
nowhere. As I ponder my life and my physical condition, I see a normal person
traveling a pathway the same as a millions others; life is a journey. It’s not
easy but it’s worth it, no matter the obstacle or terrain. We are all on this
road of life together - and we can all use a hand.
[email protected] Write Betty and let her know what you think about her story.