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TALKING

IT IS SAID, U USE 10% OF YOUR BRAIN. MOST OF THAT 10% IS DEAD, IN MY BRAIN. SO, I'M JUST "RE-WIRING" THE 90% THAT'S UNUSED. THAT TAKES AWHILE, BUT THERE'S HOPE I CAN LEARN.

SO, SHOULD IT COME AS A SURPRISE, THAT THE KIDS RECENTLY EXCLAIMED, "SHE'S LIKE A BABY! (I WONDERED HOW THEY WERE JUST REALIZING THIS!) SHE'S LEARNING 2 TALK AGAIN!"

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I SAW MY BRO. AT MY PARENTS. AS I PASSED HIM, I THOUGHT "HI," & “HI” JUST POPPED OUT. MY DAD HEARD, & HE & MY BRO. WERE THRILLED.

LUCKILY, IT WAS A GOOD SPEAKING NIGHT, SO I COULD FILL REQUESTS 2 REPEAT "HI" & SAY BYE (ALTHOUGH, I'VE HEARD ME SAY "BYE" BETTER B4).

THEN, MORE RECENTLY, JESS ASKED IF APRIL WAS SPELLED W/1 OR 2 L'S—WITHOUT ANY HESITATION, I ANSWERED W/A VERY CLEAR "ONE." JESS WAS SHOCKED. I WAS SHOCKED SHE UNDERSTOOD ME! I OFTEN RESPOND W/O THINKING (THINGS LIKE "THANK U," "FIA," "YES," "NO," "I LOVE U"), BUT AM RARELY UNDERSTOOD, EXCEPT, SOMETIMES BY MK. (THE FAMILY ACTUALLY MOCK HOW I SAY "I O U." I LOVE 2 BE TOLD, "I O U 2!")

SO, JESS REQUESTED I SAY "ONE" AGAIN. IT WAS TWICE AS HARD, & DEFINITELY LESS RECOGNIZABLE WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT SAYING THE WORD—SO, I TRIED AGAIN. STILL NOT AS GOOD, BUT BETTER ENOUGH 2 SATISFY HER.

FOOD

OH HAPPY DAY! IT'S CLOSE TO 4 YEARS SINCE HAD THE FREEDOM 2 THINK, "I'M HUNGRY," & JUST GO GET A SNACK. SO, I DON'T SNACK—IT'S JUST NOT WORTH THE HASSLE OF FINDING & TELLING SOME1 2 FEED ME, GETTING A PAPER TOWEL BIB, TILTING MY CHAIR 2 ASSIT SWALLOWING, ETC—ALL 4 A SMALL SQUARE OF CHOCOLATE OR SOMETHING.

LUCKILY, I RARELY FEEL HUNGER, SO THIS, AT TIMES, ISN'T AN ISSUE. IN FACT, IT DOESN'T EVEN PHASE ME 2 SKIP LUNCH, BEING THAT I CAN'T BURN CALORIES AS FAST, & GAIN WEIGHT INCREDIBALLY FAST, IF I EAT "LIKE NORMAL."

BUT 2DAY A MACHINE WAS SET UP THAT I CAN ACCESS, CRANK TREATS OUT INTO A BOWL, & FEED MYSELF! COURSE, I NEEDED 2 GET STRONG ENOUGH 2 CRANK IT, & LIFT MY ARM 2 MY MOUTH, ALL WHILE HOLDING FOOD, & PLACE THE FOOD IN MY MOUTH. BUT I CAN! HOW INGENIOUS & CREATIVE OF MK 2 FIND A THING LIKE THIS EXISTED & USE IT IN A WAY THAT IT IMPRROVES MY LIFE! (NOT 2 MENTION, THE GREAT THERAPY IT OFFERS!)

THE NEW TRICK, SINCE IT'S FILLED W/TREATS & POPCORN AT THE KIDS EYE LEVEL, IS 2 TEACH THEM 2 NOT TOUCH MY FOOD! (BTW, POPCORN 'S GREAT 4 A TIRED ARM,, SINCE I CAN STTICK OUT MY TONGUE 2 GRAB IT, & IT STICKS 2 MY TONGUE!)

SORRY I'VE BEEN "OUT OF COMMISSION" SO LONG—I'VE BEEN TERRIBLY SICK & UNABLE 2 TYPE, THEN AT FAMILY FUNCTIONS—THEN MY KIDS WENT 2 MY SISTER'S (A SHOUT OUT 2 THEM), & TIGER TERRIBLY MISSES THHEM PLAYING, & GIVING HIM ATTENTION (SO, IF I'M TYPING & HE WANTS ATTENTION, HE WALKS ON MY KEYBOARD, & I SPEND MORE TIME DELETING, THAN TYPING! HIS NEW FAV. THING IS SO CUTE: HE SITS ON MY LAP, W/HIS FRONT PAWS ON MY UN-MOVING LEFT ARM, & WATCHES ME USE THE COMP.!)

GUESS WHAT?

GUESS WHAT? IT WAS DUE TIME 4 AN PHYSICAL ACCOMPLISHMENT! THINGS WERE GETTING STALE AROUND HERE—ISO, SUCK! GRANTED, I TRIED ON A FATTER STRAW, BUT I SUCK! THIS OPENS WORLDS 4 ME! I'VE DREAMED OF THIS DAY! I TRIED BACK WHEN I LIVED IN INDY, & FAILED. TRIED 2 PUCKER & BLOW ON A RECORDER IN MUSIC THERAPY, ABOUT A YEAR AGO. I WAS CLOSE. I PUCKER BETTER NOW & BREATHE DEEPER.. W/RE-NEWED CONFIDENCE & DETERMINED 2 NOT FAIL AGAIN, I THOUGHT I’D TRY IT AGAIN. IT WORKED! IT'S AWFULLY HARD 2 PUCKER AGAIN WHEN I'M SMILING! I HAVE 2 RELAX MY FACE & SLOW BREATING DOWN SO I CAN BE READY ON A BIGGER BREATH—
Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the
end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”.
— Anonymous

HANDICAPPED PARKING

IT WAS MY ANNIVERSARY. THERE ISN'T MUCH I CAN DO, UNFORTUNATELY, SO WE WENT WINDOW SHOPPING AT A RIDICULOUSLY BUSY MALL.

BUT 2 GO, WE HAD 2 PARK. WE EVENTUALLY FOUND A PLACE, BUT IT WASN'T EASY. I WASN'T SURE WHICH OFFENCE BOTHERED ME MORE: A MOTORCYCLE PARKED ON THE LINES 4 HANDICAPPED PARKING (SARCASTIC: "HELLO"—THOSE R THERE 4 A REASON, & I NEED THEM 4 A RAMP 2 GET OUT), OR A MOTORCYCLE THAT ACTUALLY PARKED IN HANDICAPPED PARKING (BET HE/SHE ISN'T HANDICAPPED, OR CAN AT LEAST WALK).

I MADE THIS PLEA B4, & I'LL SAY IT AGAINl 4 THE SAKE OF THOSE WHO CAN'T GET OUT IF WE DON'T HAVE THOSE HANDICAPPED PARKING SPOTS, DON'T PARK THERE, ESP. IF U CAN DO WHAT WE WISH WE COULD DO: WALK. & IF U PARK BY HANDICAPPED PARKING, CAREFUL NOT 2 PARK ON THE LINES –MANY R ALREADY 2 THIN.