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Thanksgiving Past and Present
Thanksgiving. Somedays it is harder to be thankful for things. This year there were many changes and ups and downs.
Optimism and thankfulness are challenging to navigate in the disability community. Thanksgiving can be challenging for some who cannot travel to see their family. Many friends become family or Thanksgiving is spent with a personal care attendant. I have been lucky enough to have family close by and friends willing to accommodate me. I still deal with people asking if I can “just walk up a few steps”…no, just no.
How do you deal with inaccessible Thanksgiving festivities? Do you cook at home with family or aides? Do you go out and eat at a restaurant or is thanksgiving not part of your holidays? What are you thankful for this year?
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3 Replies
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For many years now, my family and I have gone over to a friends house for Thanksgiving. They are very understanding about my disability and allow me to use my portable ramps to get into their home. I don’t go and see family because the majority of them are not understanding or accommodating. I definitely consider my friends to be my family.
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Most of my family is a long distance away. Since my parents are older my mom is tired of cooking for hours so we went out. There is a risk when going out with wait staff, and other customers, and the food not being to people’s liking, but it also saves time and energy (not money though). I think next year I will offer to do some of the cooking, if I prepare a schedule and break up the food over a week with prepping and cooking I can do it and not be exhausted!
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I was thankful this year to spend Thanksgiving with my Dad and his wife at their home. I was very lucky that after my surgery to straighten my spine, after four years of therapy and healing, I have been able to begin driving again, and can now travel a few hours on the road. I also am walking pretty well, although I get fatigued easily. If I don’t go too hard I’m OK. Because it was just the three of us and no one was up to cooking. We just brought in dinner this year. It was from a local supermarket and it turned out to be delicious. My dad‘s wife added a few touches of her own and we really enjoyed it. I was glad to spend time with my dad because I just don’t know how much longer he has. He has been ill for a while now and every moment I spend with him is precious. I have to say this was one of the better Thanksgivings that I have had recently.
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