Open letter to my fellow paraplegics (and my friends and junk)...

You know, I recently celebrated an anniversary that I lot of people don't have, a very special day in my life that is worth honoring and remembering. It wasn't the date I got together with my beautiful girlfriend, nor was it the date I graduated from college. I wasn't my first kiss anniversary, the anniversary of being dumped by my ex-fiancée, or even a remembrance of the time I totaled out my first car. Two weeks ago, I celebrated my third year in a wheelchair.

My 'cripple-versary', as I like to call it, is not a sad or downhearted time; rather, it is a chance to embrace my paraplegic self, and to look back at all I have overcome. It is empowering to look back on the things I have done over the past three years, from daily living activities (you people have no idea how hard it truly is to put on jeans) to great quality of life things (like visiting the beach or going to the movies), ad even exciting things, the type that make people ooh and ahh over you and talk about how much you've had to overcome (newspaper interviews, full-time job, Master's classes, that trip to Dollywood).

Not only that, but it provides a time for me to reflect, and bring things back home. God did some pretty cool stuff for me. I should have died in that ATV accident; the doctors said so, the nurses said so, even my stepdad's 3-year-old said so. I was given another chance, a second incarnation, if you will; a chance to be better, to do more, to make more of a difference than I ever had before.

Looking back, I'd like to think I've done just that.

This month, I will reach a year and a half of full time work at the same job. I will be heading to Columbus, Ohio, nearly 300 miles from home, to speak to 3 ginormous church services about the importance of faith and the fruits of the spirit. My girlfriend and I will make the fourth payment on our beautiful house. For the third year in a row, I'll be a leader in my church's vacation bible school activities.

So with all of that in just one month, what could I possibly do to top it off?

Well, here's the plan. I created this blog originally because I remembered how hard it was to find information when I was a baby paraplegic. There is lots of info out there for walkies, sure, and plenty of resources for the fully paralyzed, but what about the rest of us? We fall in between. It is really tough to find a site that addresses issues important to the young, active, life-loving paraplegic. I hope to be able to use my blog to help the next class to come along, to maybe inspire, at least educate, and to share my personal experiences with you all.

So, strap in tight, and grab your eye and ear protection: you are entering a no-bull zone! I'll be here each week with a new post, and more often as I see fit, addressing everything from clothes and food to diaper pails and catheters. I'll tell you where to go, what to do while you're there, and how to do it. We'll look at contemporary issues facing the disabled today, and at just how far we've come since the Dark Ages (before the ADA).

Here we go!