Today..........May 27

The other night, storms were brewing pretty fast and Gary was doing DIsaster Work in Joplin.  I looked across the room and spotted my power chair and wondered how the dogs and I would survive.  I decided that at 250 pounds, the chair might resist the wind, so I toyed with the idea of sliding the seat belt of the chair through the dog's collars and clipping it around myself.  We would ride out the storm together.  Thankfully, that idea never had to be tested. 

However, it made me think about the definition of disabled.  So many, many of our clients are waiting for the Disability Ship to come in to port, yet they seem to be able to hop around town fairly freely.  They can get in the car, run to Walmart, dash into the store between the raindrops, and visit around town all day.  And I have to wonder, are you  really disabled?  To me, disabled is mentally strapping your dogs to your wheelchair in the hopes of saving them because there is no way on earth you will be able to get down in your very safe basement without the help of a very large, very burly football player.  Disabled is being 80 years old, and confined to a Nursing Home bed, knowing that you will die in the storm if no one moves your bed to a safe place.  Disabled is being dependent on a respirator when the power goes out.

Disabled is not wanting the government (read: me, the taxpayer) to support you for the rest of your life because you don't want to get up to the sound of an alarm. 

The storm roared past us, and destroyed Joplin.

The contractors are taking a 4-day holiday weekend, so the work has stopped for the time being.