Hear the drum roll? …..
I’m a single mother of three. At this stage in my life, that’s pretty much what defines me.
That was my intro in its entirety, now for the thanks.
Last winter I met an amazing man. He is smart and funny, sarcastic and witty, stubborn and hard-headed. He is also a C5/6/7 incomplete quadriplegic after breaking his neck 35 years ago. After spending some time getting to know each other, he started explaining what it meant to him to be quadriplegic. That was an eye-opener. Everything I thought I knew was either inaccurate or incomplete.
I had the joy of getting to meet him in person earlier this month and a lot of what I learned on this site helped me to understand some of the things that he and I hadn’t gotten around to discussing - like spasms and transferring. There’s a whole ‘nother SCI language out there and thanks to the people on this site, I felt like I could actually understand him when he was talking SCI … most of the time.
Having been in a chair for so long, he has concerns about his future health: osteoporosis, pressure sores, renal failure... I’m sure there are others that he hasn’t shared with me and that’s OK. I particularly appreciate the ‘old timers’ posts about their health issues/concerns/successes. Reading their posts helps me to understand better what his long term concerns may be and why.
So, my thanks to Simon for the site and my thanks to all the colorful personalities (you know who you are) that put pieces of their lives in writing for the rest of us to learn from, laugh with and sometimes tear up with. The more I can learn and understand, the better friend I can be. So, thanks to you all.




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