Posted on Facebook June 28, 2025
Today is my birthday. My 55th birthday. I decided to post this a couple of days ago; here is my story.
I was born premature at 26 weeks gestation. All indications were that I was doing well, so well in fact that when I was five weeks or so and 5 pounds, they took me out of the incubator. I had one medical incident that set me back. At 18 months, talking but unable to sit up or crawl in the regular way, I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
My mother, who was a paediatric nurse at the time, has always told me I didn’t fit the characteristics of what she knew about kids with cerebral palsy. The ones she had seen in the hospital were a lot sicker.
My parents were given the option to institutionalize me and told I probably wouldn’t walk, run, or jump like other kids. Lucky for me, they rejected all suggestions that I wouldn’t or couldn’t succeed and made it their mission to give me the best life they could.
I walked with a walker at three and began on crutches at four. At four, I also got my first wheelchair, but not before going to school in a stroller initially, because that was what was available. My parents had fought to have me educated at a regular mainstream school and so it went. School was pretty much smooth sailing until high school.
In high school, I experienced bullying, not just from the kids, I might add, and I struggled academically. When I was 16 and I expressed interest in life after high school, I was met with some resistance. We are just going to get you through this, College, maybe, university, absolutely not! That was the response. I was devastated and a little angry. I would take nine courses in grade 12 so I could graduate with my class and do so from a wheelchair three weeks after one of my surgeries. I had so many surgeries, I have lost count, my eyes and orthopaedic corrections on my legs that initially kept me mobile  using crutches exclusively until I was about 14 or 15.
My parents, who believed I was more than the education system gave me credit for, insisted that I either attend school or get a job. They gave me a choice: I could go to school or get a job, but I wasn’t going to do anything.
In the Fall of 1988, I registered for college, and what an experience it was. I discovered I was smart for the first time. I excelled in courses over the next two years, and by the time I graduated, I had been accepted to university with advanced standing.
University would be a struggle in different ways, but I found my feet there, too. With two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree under my belt, I was ready for the workforce. Again, I faced struggles of a different kind, but perseverance would pay off in my career. Although my path was not a straight line, I have seen myself consulting with the government, teaching at college, and traveling all over Canada and the US, including working in Nunavut, one of Canada’s northern territories.
And I’m still not done. I recently started doctoral studies, which are due to be completed in 2028. This is not a career ambition but a personal one. People have asked me over the years how I manage with my disability and whether I would change things if I could. Here’s my answer:
Truth, I don’t know whether I would be the person I am without my disability, so I embrace it.
Do I wish life were easier? Hell, yes!
I am blessed to have this life with friends and family who support me. I must admit that I couldn’t have done it without the support, so there are blessings to be had as well.
In the end, I love and appreciate my life, CP, and all that it entails.