Mikelle and I feel compelled to write about life with a disability, not just the challenges but the opportunities, the friendships, the innovations, and the brilliance of our communities in action as we share our everyday life living with a disability. With a little more information, motivation, we hope to share how our life is shining beautiful and maybe help you to shine beautiful, too.
Shining Beautiful at 40!
A Beautiful Gift Arrives In the fall of 1983, I lived in a nice-sized three-bedroom home in a southwestern suburb of Denver. My father, a general residential contractor, had built many homes in the neighborhood. My then-husband and I purchased this house in 1979 while I was pregnant with
The Big Wheelchair Debate
Community Connects at Eye Level We all desire a certain amount of control over our lives in what we eat, where we go, and who we see, and Mikelle is no different. Most enjoy sitting across the table and sharing coffee with friends and family at the local cafe. We
A Must Have Tool for Transition Planning
It is late spring. The flowers are bursting through moist soil with daffodils and tulips, and the sweet smell of apple blossoms lingers. All across America, in high school classrooms everywhere, transition plans are in progress for teenagers with disabilities who have an IEP (Individual Education Plan). These transition plans
Our Everything, Everywhere All At Once!
Routine Life Most families have a routine. We have a daily set of rituals and activities that help us wake up, move around the house and help us run around our communities, and chat with each other over coffee. Yet, we all know that when the dishwasher does work, or
Part Two: What is Next?
Doubt Nagging doubt and uncertainty have replaced my fear. Yet, I know I am not alone as I share a cup of coffee with the unknown. Four other women, all with adults who experience disabilities and have been living an inclusive life in their own homes, feel my trepidation about
Where is the Exit Ramp?
What are the Options? Like many mothers my age, I am at the dark end of a blind alleyway looking for the exit ramp from daily caregiving and into retirement. I love being a mom and have been privileged to support and care for Mikelle’s mom. I am just being
Let’s Celebrate!
One Christmas in Color, two-holiday parties, three great presents, four fun team members, and five golden smiles made this holiday season bright. Strung together like a strand of lights on the Christmas tree, this season’s events were brilliant and beautiful. Our hearts are full of love for our friends and
Vote Like Your Life Depends on It! Cause it does.
Today, November offers up a beautiful fall day. The temperature hovers at a lovely sixty-five degrees. Soft, faded pink hydrangeas bounce on a gentle breeze. I am sitting in the sun at a local coffee shop in the garden of falling leaves. This moment feels like the warm before the
Simple, Basic, Fun Ways to Win Back our Happiness.
Simple Sometimes it is so simple—a win for a beleaguered and treasured football team and a Halloween party. In these moments, we step back into traditions to reclaim our future by being present in the moment. For Mikelle, her brother, and his family, Sunday’s Bronco football team win in London
Special Education or Special Nightmare?
“One faces the future with one’s past.” Pearl S. Buck So much has changed in those years since we posted that blog COVID, the aftermath of COVID, and serious staffing issues in the schools, not just among paraprofessionals but among teachers and speech and language therapists, bus drivers, and even
Seven Steps to Finding Balance in a Turbulent World.
Balance. Is it possible in these turbulent times? When we think of balance, Mikelle and I see it differently. For her, balance is the lack of chaos and the smoothness of her basic routine. She likes a certain rhythm to her day while avoiding falling into a rut where every
Adventures in Grand Lake, CO
Everyone Needs a Little Time Away. Mikelle’s Vacation. Heck, it has been a long haul with Covid. We were getting cabin fever and decided to hightail it out of the city and into the mountains to a real cabin in the high country. Gone is the traffic, the hustle and