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Show 403 Nevertheless, I am still well in all the ways that count. Getting out of bed in my own home in the mornings, driving a car, going to the mall, fixing dinner - these are all gifts I do not take for granted. I do not know for how long they will remain a part of my life. My husband of twenty-seven years remained with me during those difficult times, despite all statistics, and is with me still. Because I am no longer on Medicaid, he is now able to earn a decent living and his employer's insurance has accepted me as a risk. Our love was deepened through that experience, by our determined endurance, and still grows day by day. And even though I am taller, standing, he still holds my hand. Our children are grown now and each is becoming involved in making this world a better place. Then childhood was very different from most but none of them is bitter. In fact, they have all, each in his or her own way, somehow benefitted by those extremely difficult challenges. A few are considering careers in the disability field. And the oldest sometimes still call our youngest "Bitty," with impish smiles. Max and Emily are still our friends. At every opportunity, though by no means often enough, we leave the crowds and drive way up high into the wilderness, where we pitch our tents and camp. |
