A Conversation with My Family Part 1

Yesterday was my mother's 54th birthday. I took the bus home Saturday night after work, and a few hours earlier my brother flew in overnight from New Mexico, where he's living in a hotel for a few months. Sunday morning we went to brunch. My parents have never owned a mini van, because my mom is scared of them, but because my stepfather was in a car accident and my mom's best friend is in California for the entire month of February, we're borrowing her's. At some point during the morning, my mom looks at my brother and says

"Jason, help Cheryl with the door."

To which I snap

"I don't need help with the door. Don't you know etiquette? You don't help someone unless they say 'I need help with the door'."

She could have said "Do you need help with the door?" That's different.

On the way home we stopped at a Japanese grocery store. We're parked right in front of the door. Why go to the ramp built onto the access aisle a few spaces away? Except I can't do curbs, which they all know full well, and everyone just got out of the car and walked into the store without any regard to me. One of them had the store door open before I even had the car door closed. The parking spaces had those stupid barriers that keep the front of your car from being close to or on top of the curb, so they were too far away to lean on, which I'm sure at least one of them noticed.

"HEY!" I said, a slight bit exasperated. I should learn to keep my mouth shut...

A Quick Wordless Wednesday

Still EXHAUSTED from work, so here's a quick photo post. For some reason my brother wanted me to have a birthday cake at his wedding, so here's the 3elove cake my mom and I designed, complete with handcuffs!

Another Odd Disability Thing

Today is my 25th birthday and I've been feeling for weeks like I should write some big "commemorating my life at the quarter century mark" post, but alas I've got nothing. I feel like the only thing I could write is a "look how much she's overcome" post. GAG ME. I refuse to do that.

So instead I will share a little antidote from my life. You see, I've started going grocery shopping on my birthday in recent years. GROCERY SHOPPING you wonder. Who would want to go grocery shopping on their birthday??? ME! Especially when it is Wegmans, one of my favorite places in the world, somewhere I only bother to trek to about 4 times a year.

I attribute my love of grocery stores, I guess, to back when I was about 3. My parents wanted me to walk, so they would carry me into the store, set me down right inside the door, and if I would cooperate and walk all the way to the back of the store where the bakery is, I would get a cookie. Just one. But that's plenty to motivate a 3yo and create a positive association to grocery stores.

So that's the story. Not a long one, but the story nonetheless. I was going to move my birthday this year, as I was doing nothing special, move it 3 weeks and celebrate it during the national action, but then I got the greatest gift of all--a local action this evening.

To end this post, here's another plug to donate. I still have $946 to go! I also have a lot of great posts coming up this month, so stay tuned. Below is my New Mobility article. I wish I was more pleased with it, but it is what it is.

Verbatum Article