Life is hard...and amazingly wonderful, so keep an open mind

Chrizette and I at St.Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin It's a memory, one of many featuring my youngest sister Chrizette and as far as our childhood goes it is the most vivid memory I have of her... of us. In this memory, we are on a stairwell in Adelaide's museum (Adelaide being a small town in South Africa's Eastern Cape region). I am about twelve at the time, so Chrizette must have been ten years old. I am seated in front of my sister on the very first step, my back to her chest. Then as the shocked museum curator looked on she starts pulling me up that long and winding staircase...step, by step. A few moments before that same curator had informed my sister that I had to leave 'his' museum because my wheels were dirting the floors. "Besides I don't know what she'd want here as most of the best things to see are upstairs..." Which is how I ended up with my butt on the stairs and being pulled up them. My sister is a feisty one, she ta...

We all need people, even the strongest most self-contained, self-sufficient person on earth will come to a point in his or her life where they need someone. If there is one thing living in a wheelchair teaches you then it is this. You need others to survive, to thrive even. You can't do this alone. You are going to need help. This can be a hard lesson to learn for some of us especially when we reach the age when those around us, our siblings are moving on and moving up, standing on their own two feet and starting their own households and families. We want that independence too and as far as we are able independence is something we strive for. But more often than not the differently-abled has to accept the fact that we are more interdependent than independent, because of this a good support system is vital. During the early formative years, our main support system is our family, parents, siblings, grandparents and so on. If we are lucky this first and primary support system ...

Mariska, Robyn and I on our road trip yesterday I had another blog planned for today, but it will stand over until next week in favor of telling you about the huge surprise my friends sprung on me yesterday (9 November). It was this past Tuesday when Robyn, a good friend of mine called and asked how I felt about taking a road trip. I'm always up for an adventure so I said: "Yes, sure that sounds like fun!" In the days that followed I had an inkling that something was up, I just didn't know what it was and every time I asked I got a different story. 'You're going to a succulent farm.' Mom's story. 'We're going to the beach,' Robyn's story and 'We're going to have sushi,' Mariska's story. Saturday rolled around and Robyn came early to do my make-up before she and mom tackled my hair. I love make-up, but wearing it every day is not always practical, so I really appreciated all the effort and pampering. A short tim...

As I'm driving my electric wheelchair to the office where I write this blog, I pass a woman walking to her car. At the car door, she stops, allowing me to pass. As I do so our gazes meet and she smiles, an open, genuine smile reaching all the way to her eyes. The effect is instant as I feel an answering smile tugging at my own lips and we greet one another like we're old friends instead of complete strangers. Just for an instant, we connect. Connection. No matter how much of a lone wolf you think you are, there is a part of you that craves it. Our digital age has made it a commodity through apps like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram to name a few. The one thing all these apps have in common is that they are trying to get people to 'connect'. It is the new buzz word and yet, many people report being lonelier than ever these days.  For the most part, we seem unable to form deep and lasting bonds, to truly connect. When I was a child meeting new people wa...