Thursday, December 3, 2015

A Young Lady Who has Cerebral Palsy Has a Dream to Walk:


Hi Everybody, I hope you're all having a good day. I am doing an update on my progress to walking. I know this is not a big deal to you guys, but it is to me. I hate to say it but it took me 34 years to get up and walk. It has been a difficult journey, in fact right now it kind of sucks. My legs are killing me. It feels like my legs are telling me to forget it, "We are done, we've been sitting in a wheelchair for years, we don't want to walk". It's kind of hard for me because when I set my mind to do something, I won't let it go until I get what I want. This is what I want, I want to be happy, I want to push myself and prove to my family I can do it. So it will take me a little bit longer to walk. I hope you guys will stay on the journey with me. 

Have a good day!

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The Voice of A Handicapped Girl Who Finally Accepted Who She Is:

I have come to a place in my life where I can accept everything, even the things I don't like. I don't like that my legs don't move the way everyone else's do, or the looks of pity people shoot at me. I maybe don't like everything about how I look, like the pimples on my face. But I know that it's a part of me so I accept it just the same. 

If I had to do my life all over again, I'd do it the same way. Having cerebral palsy has brought a particularly wonderful person into my life. I've known her about 16 years, but I moved in with her about 4 1/2 years ago. We do everything together and I am so lucky to have her in my life! Sometimes I do wish I had someone who I really connected to like that who also had cerebral palsy in my life. I do know other people with cerebral palsy, but we don't really hang out. Sometimes I just want someone who can relate to me on all levels, including living with cerebral palsy. 

I want people to know that I love myself. I love my life. I'm not ashamed of having cerebral palsy. This is my life. I couldn't have asked for better family and friends to be taking this journey with me. My life with CP is a good life. I want to show people that I have a disability but that's not who I am. I am Shawna Mattinson and I am okay being handicapped.