Hope Through Connection.

Becca Neels
Aug 25, 2018
3 min read

“ Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

- Anais Nin

Originally, my blog was meant as a place for me to get my feelings out. Never in a million years did I imagine that it would take off the way that it has with literally hundreds of readers every week.

My blog has allowed me to connect with people with and without different- abilities via Facebook messenger, email, handwritten letters, and in person. Many people simply write to thank me for the impact that my words have had on their personal lives, and while I am humbled to know that my story has inspired people from all different walks of life, this is not important to me.

There is something that I consider to be so much more valuable than this, and that is the simple, yet profound idea of connection. Growing up as a child with CP, I often felt alone, because I did not know anyone like me. I remember wishing there was someone in my life that was able to understand the entirety of what I was going through, as well as the feelings associated with it. That all changed the day I decided to start a blog about my journey living with Cerebral Palsy. I quickly realized that there are many individuals out there who have encountered challenges similar to my own. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel “ different.” I didn’t feel out of place, and it drove me to do what I could to make sure that others did not experience the same feelings I once did. I have learned that everyone needs and more importantly, deserves to be heard.

As I write, I am thinking back to an experience I had a couple of weeks back with a young girl and her mother. My respite worker, Erin was loading my wheelchair into the back of my mini- van, when I looked at the parking stall next to us and noticed a woman loading a little girl who appeared to have Cerebral Palsy into their van. At that moment, I felt a tugging in my heart. I asked Erin if we could go around and introduce ourselves. After introducing myself, I learned that she did in fact have a form of the same condition. I think for the mother, it was comforting to converse with someone who had the same diagnosis as her daughter. In a message, the woman shared with me that meeting me gave her hope for the future; hope that despite her various physical challenges, she can live a happy life.

This rings true for me with many of whom I’ve met that are walking and wheeling similar journeys. I have been given hope through the connections I have been so incredibly fortunate to form with so many people over the last few years. I have learned so much from all of you including that some people use their wheelchair battery as a phone charger to learning what kind of shoes work with leg braces. Your lives are testaments of what it means to have strength and persevere. You have taught me that with the right modifications, I can do anything I set my mind to. I just have to want it bad enough.

This post would not be complete unless I acknowledged the parents, guardians, caregivers and loyal friends of these children and adults.

I want you to know that despite your occasional doubts, you are doing an incredible job. Just look at them. Their smiles and zest for life says it all.