October

apparently october is a busy month. it is also Accessible Parking Awareness Month in New Hampshire. why only NH is beyond me...

this accessible parking (a.k.a. handicap parking) thing makes me a little crazy 2 be honest. and i will tell you why. i, myself, have been permitted by the RMV of MA to utilize a handicap parking placard. this permits me to park close to buildings and stores and all that jazz. the RMV does not just hand these out. medical paperwork needs to be filled out by doctors and sent to boston, bla, bla, bla. granted, some people DO use placards that don't belong to them which makes me VERY mad. and i hope they are all caught and receive the "punishable fine". do you have any idea the limited # of "accessible" parking spots there are?????????
pardon me, i tend to get all wound up on these issues.

if you looked at me getting out of my truck in an "accessible" spot, you would think i stole the placard from my grandmother. you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with me, unless, of course, you were fortunate enough to see me strap on my leg braces while trying to balance against my truck and adjust everything appropriately (this can't be done inside a vehicle, so it IS pretty funny 2 watch).

here is where i educate you with a voice of sarcasm and frustration. the term "you look so good" should NEVER be used in converation with a person who has an invisible disease like MS. those words stab into the heart with a force that i cannot even begin to describe. the MS Society actually has a brochure on this very topic, which i sometimes want to mail to everyone in the universe. ok, so maybe i don't "look" diseased on the outside, but unfortunately MS is eating away at my central nervous system on its own timeline. unless you can crawl into my brain and spinal cord, you can't "see" this happening and there is nothing to "look" at. maybe someday, though, you will get to SEE the effects of that, which makes me really sad and mad and maybe even a bit scared.

reality check: you don't need to see everything to make it real.

the moral of this story is... please don't judge by the way people look. please don't stare at the young women (me) who pulled into the handicap parking spot and looks so good. AND certainly... please don't park in an Accessible Parking Spot, unless it is YOUR picture on the placard, OR the picture of someone IN your vehicle.

going to do some meditation now...
---becca :-)