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Just me giving words of wisdom, sharing thoughts and poetry and the occasional health or diet tip! Ok, and may be some other stuff! :)
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Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Handicapped Girl - written 2/9/84

I wrote this for a college writing class...there are some things I would edit now, but typed it exactly as I wrote it 27 years ago..
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Joanne looked at me with her gigantic dark brown movie star eyes and smiled, showing her perfectly straight pearly whites.  As she smiled, her tiny pug nose wrinkled up and her entire olive complexion glowed.  I couldn't help but shed a tear while thinking her petite body had to be sitting limply in an aqua blue wheelchair.  You see, my sister has cerebral palsy.

Despite her inability to communicate verbally and her inability to walk, she still is a human being and has a personality of her own.  Some think a handicapped individual lacks personality and just sits around like a rotten vegetable.  FALSE!!  Joanne has many lovely traits.  However, she also has a boiling hot temper.  Most of all, she is a perfectionist and tries her damndest to overcome any obstacle she happens to encounter.

One day, Joanne's occupational therapist said she should try to use her hands more.  The therapist suggested simple puzzles with only five or six two inch pieces, so Mom and Dad set off for Bradless to search for puzzles.

Returning home with three, we taught Joanne how to execute one of the puzzles.  To our amazement, at the end of the night, she had the puzzle completed.  She knew exactly where every colorful piece was suppose to go.  Not too difficult, you say to yourself, but to her it was a challenge she conquered.  Just to sit and observe the look of confidence come over her pretty face after completing a puzzle sent a warm and loving feeling through my body.  It also inspires me to try harder and put my mind to work, because if a disabled person puts out effort and can accomplish something, so can I.

Joanne is also a perfectionist.  She must have everything in order or else.  For example, if her sneakers become untied, she will tell us, through the use of her pictorial language board, to tie it.  If something happens to spill and dirty her shirt, it must be changed immediately.  If a light is accidentally left on in one of the rooms, she quickly tells us to turn it off.  When it's time for her to go to bed and she is still working on one of her puzzles, she won't allow my mother to start to get her ready to go to bed until she finishes putting her puzzle together.

Joanne also loves going to her school, located in Edison, to absorb more knowledge.  She is up in the morning with the birds because she is so anxious to go to school.  One thing annoys her though.  If classes are cancelled due to inclement weather, she gets furious.  It's so great that she wants to learn.

She also is a very good friend.  When I haven't a souls to talk to about a problem, she is a great listener.  Even though she can't respond to me, she understands every word I speak.  When I tell her about a sad situation, her lip curls down and her eyes begin to fill with tears.  When told a happy or funny story, she laughs heartily along.

If Joanne wasn't cursed with this handicap, I am sure she would be a successful individual.  She is still a terrific, determined eighteen year old and everyone falls in love with her the minute you look into her chestnut brown eyes.

2 comments:

  1. MARIANNE,
    I LOVED YOUR STORY ABOUT YOUR SISTER-I LAUGHED & CRIED. JOANNE SOUNDS LIKE A VERY SPECIAL, & BEAUTFIUL PERSON. INSIDE & OUTSIDE. YOU ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH A SWEET PERSON AS YOUR SISTER. SHE'S LUCK TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO LOVES HER & WHO THINKS SHE'S AS SPECIAL AS SHE IS.
    DID YOU EVER CONSIDER BEING A WRITER FOR A LIVING?

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  2. Thank you Donna! Yes, I have been considering writing, started a book of poetry and have a novel in mind and started to write it....let's see what happens!

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