Left out in the Cold
Well, it was another day stuck here in Long Branch with Donna, thanks to the shortage of busses for the disabled and the broken van lift. The van drives OK, so I could go out without Donna, but I never do that. She's been left out all of her life, so I don't like to go out and leave her here alone. Even if it means staying here in town being bored, I won't go out and leave her alone. When I'm invited to go places with friends or family, I tell them, "if Donna can't go, I'm not going." When I had a car and Donna could no longer get in the front seat because of her hip pain, I chose to stay here in town with her, even on my days off when I would have much preferred to be going somewhere more exiting/interesting. I never knew how isolated and cut off from the world many disabled people feel until I lived "in their shoes", so to speak. Most of my life I had access to a car and came and went as I pleased. Donna and others like her have never had that experience. When the lift was working on the van, Donna got to live like most of the rest of us do, and she LOVED it. We are both so frustrated now with this problem we are having with the van. I hope to finish making my CD soon (visit www.soundclick.com/lejaz for a sample of the music) and maybe I will be able to sell a few copies to make some money for the van lift. Who knows...I suppose anything's possible, if God wants it to be.