Finding My Voice Again

            My time as Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee 2012 was a year I will never forget.  I learned a lot about the Disability Rights Movement.  More than I already knew.  I learned more about the struggles and hardships that people with disabilities faced as part of their daily lives.  It was just part of living back then.  Just part of doing what was necessary to survive.  Until people spoke up.  Until people like Ed Roberts and Judith Heumann banded together and forced society to let them in. In that year as Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee, I found more of myself.  More of the past that makes my future possible.  And I discovered how desperately I wanted my voice to impact the present… to change the future for others in the same way Ed Roberts and Judith Heumann changed it for me.

            In March 2013 I passed on the crown, so to speak.  Bliss Welch became Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee 2013.  In so many ways, she is perfect for this role.  And I know she will make us proud.  But I would be lying if I said it has been a struggle for me these past few months.  I am still active in the Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee Organization.  I lend my skills wherever needed to help Bliss, and to help this amazing organization grow.  There was some time, however, when I felt a lull… a loss in my life.  I felt as if I had lost the ability to speak out.  As if giving up my crown meant giving up my voice.

            I started this blog in an effort to share my life with others.  To remain open and honest as a person with a disability, no more or less human than anyone else.  I thought I lost my voice these last few months.  But I was wrong.  I forgot the most important lesson being Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee 2012 taught me.  The title might have handed me the microphone, so to speak, but I had to be willing to speak into it and make some noise!  Recent events have reminded me of this, and I am raising my voice once more.  My apologies for the silence while I worked on some kinks.  I’m back!