Just a Little Piece of My Mind

Hi.  

So, I'm married to a man in a wheelchair.  I want to gracefully shed some light on a few things.  First off, I loathe when people say 'God Bless you for doing that'.  Um, doing WHAT exactly?  This phrase belittles me and my husband.  What exactly is 'that'?  It is so infuriating.  Makes my blood boil.  I know people mean well but for the love of all that is good and kind...think BEFORE you speak.

Another one of my favorites is 'was he like that before or after you married him'?  Um, again, LIKE WHAT?  In a wheelchair?  No, I am so conceded and simple minded as a person that I wouldn't have married him had I known he was going to end up in a wheelchair.  Really people, come on, work with me here.  If you too were wondering, yes.  Yes, he was in a wheelchair before we were married.  He was actually in the process of transitioning from crutches to his chair.

Let's see, what else.  'Does IT work'.  Total strangers y'all.  Total strangers.  Yeah, IT works, see these three little crazies around behind me....trust me IT works.  In fact, IT works so well that it made two at once.  Just sayin'.

How about this one: 'I don't know how you do it'.  That one has to be my favorite.  How do I do what exactly?  Tolerate someone that I love in a wheelchair?  Take care of my spouse?

The whole point of this post is to enlighten everyone that living with a spouse in a wheelchair is NOT the end of the world, its not a prison sentence and it isn't even THAT big of a deal.  People like my husband and myself like to be treated just like your husband your yourself!  I'm sure that every husband and wife have issues as we do, sometimes our issues are a little bit different.  He gets on my nerves in the same manner your husband gets on yours!  

All I ask is PLEASE do not pity me (us)!  I can't speak for everyone that is in a similar situation as us but please, treating us differently is completely unnecessary and ultimately....well, its annoying.  I'm certain that nine out of ten times its not meant with cruel intentions but I'm here to say, it makes me crazy.

Anyway, I don't know if this is helpful to anyone or if it ultimately even matters.  I just felt it was necessary to address the situation.  I'm a little rough around the edges, in case you couldn't tell.

Thanks for reading my rant!  

                                                              Traci

Okay - so, I won't be able to sleep at night if I'm not completely honest with you all..........