By Heidi Johnson Wright
Part of me
still bought in to the idea that to use a wheelchair was a sign of failure.
Perhaps I simply wasn’t trying hard enough, wasn’t soldiering through the pain
like I should. I’m ashamed to admit it, but on days I did take the chair to
class, I hid it.
I would arrive early, find an adjacent empty classroom, park
it there, then walk over to my class. That way, I could stride into my
classroom as if nothing was wrong. (Or, as if nothing was wrong with me.)
Outside of
class, I struggled to meet guys who could look past the chair and see me. I had
lots of male buddies, but rarely did things progress beyond friendship. Then I
met my husband. We fell hard for each other.
Before I got too far in, I
secretly gave him a test to pass. The first time we went out together, I held
his hand, making it clear to passers-by that the chick in the chair was dating
the guy who walked. He gladly took my hand, even kissed me, and never flinched.
He passed with flying colors, and we got married two years later.
Serialized from New Mobility Magazine Digital
http://newmobility.unitedspinal.org/NM_Mar_18/#?page=34
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