On My Anniversary

I'd been meaning to write a post about a rather unpleasant encounter with my County Assistance caseworker regarding my health insurance for a few days now. I'm still going to write that, just not today. There's something else I'd like to discuss today, my wife. As I've mentioned before, she really is the most supportive person I could have ever hoped to find. And today, on our fourth anniversary, I'm going to elaborate on that.

We met when I was still able-bodied, though we didn't start dating until after my injury. She knew about my mental illnesses and my physical disabilities before we got together and didn't care at all. This is an important point because they were an issue for the girl I was dating when I hurt my leg. My girlfriend-at-the-time complained often about my using a cane to walk and my wanting to use a wheelchair for long days out. She frequently made offensive comments about my mental illnesses. I was miserable. When we broke up and I started dating the-girl-I-ended-up-marrying my life took a definite step in the right direction.

My wife, however, is amazing. She makes sure I go to my doctor appointments and take my meds. She pushes me if I'm using my manual wheelchair and yells at me when I say that I feel guilty about it. She's yelled at people on the bus for me and argued with ignorant disablists all over the place on my behalf. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her.

One of the most impressive things is that one of the aspects of my disability that really bothers me doesn't matter to her at all. I can't work. It kills me that I can't. I loved working, I really did. I enjoyed it and was good at it. But now I can't do anything to contribute financially to the household and she has to support us both. I'm still fighting with Social Security so I don't get any money from the government yet. My wife is ok with all this though. She says things like "I always wanted a housewife" and "When we have a kid, you'll be a great stay-at-home dad."

My wife is wonderful. She's the most loving, supportive ally a disabled person could ever hope to find. She's my partner, my advocate, my teammate and my friend. And I love her more than my powerchair.



Right now my bipolar is Slightly Manic.
Right now my pain level is 4 (the vicodin is working well).