Looking Beyond A Disability

Growing Up As A Child I Knew A Person By Their Character. If They Had An Affliction Of Any Kind It Took A Backseat To The True Identity Of That Person.
For Example My Special Aunt, Bev. My Parents Would Take Us Kids Over To Bill & Bev's House So They Could Play Euchre. They Had Two Girls, So Going Over There Was BORING. Aunt Bev Had Polio In Her Younger Years And Had To Get Around On Crutches. It Was Just A Way Of Life For Her And We Never Gave It Another Thought.
I Use To Love Playing With Her Crutches. As Always If Not One But Both Parents Would Scold Me Until Aunt Bev Would Chime In And Tell Them To Let Me Be Bacause I Can't Hurt Them.
My Friend Brian, Who I Have Mentioned In My Blogs Was In A Horrible Accident Which Led Him To Years Of Recovery. Even Though This Accident Left His Speech Slurred And His Walk With A Limp, His Mind Is Just As Sharp As It Ever Was.
My Reason For Mentioning All This Leads Me To My Sister Brenda. After Her Stroke She Had A Difficult Time With Her Speech. Those Who Were With Her Often Learned How To Understand And Communicate Well With Brenda.
I Guess What I Am Getting To Is Now I Wish I Had Spent More Time With Her. I Never Realized Her Days Were Numbered. Unfortunatley All Our Days Are Numbered. How We Use Those Days Is What Really Counts. They Say Lessons Are Learned Through Experiences We Have Throughout Life.
We Need To Look Beyond A Disability And Find The Real Person Inside. In Most Cases They Are Still In There. A Disability Can Disguise A Person's Character.
I Have Always Tried To Learn By My Shortcomings. There Is Little Doubt To Me That Brenda Is Looking Down At Us With Her Heavenly Body Reminding Us That God Is Good. Even Though She Was Not Attending Church On A Weekly Basis, Her Faith In God Should Never Be Questioned. When Her Earthly Body Became Crippled, Her Soul Was Still Intact. Not Only Was She A Loving Sister, She Was A Wonderful Human Being.
When We Are Children Our Hearts Are Different. We View Life From A Different Perspective. We Were Pure With Innocents.
To My Readers. Take A Moment Of Your Time And Think Of That Person In Your Life With A Disability. Whether It Be A Co-Worker, Neighbor, Somebody At Church. Look Beyond Their Disability.
Find The Real Person Inside. You'll Be Glad You Did.