Hello and welcome! Since blog titles do not allow strikethroughs, the complete phrase above should be, Why “Embracing Disability This Ability”?
I worked as a journalist when we were still living in the Philippines. For years, several of my editors kept encouraging me to write about our journey as a family loving someone with cerebral palsy. At the time, I didn’t have any opportunity to write my book because that meant it would take time away from income-generating work that my family needed.
Fast forward to 2018 when we’ve been here in the US for a few months. An editor and good friend, Joy Solina, who works at CSM Publishing, urged me to start writing and send her at least a chapter each week. Thankfully, the editorial team and I were able to finish the book in time for the Manila International Book Fair in September that year.
Our family did not plan to go on a special needs journey more than 20 years ago but it is the direction we’ve been given. Two decades plus later, we remain grateful to our tour guide who taught us so much about love, patience, and hope.
Embracing Disability This Ability, with the word Disability crossed out, aims to inspire other families going through a similar journey. That instead of despairing and losing hope, I would like other parents to realize that we have a choice to embrace “this ability” — OUR abilities —
- to find joy despite seemingly hopeless circumstances
- to practice gratitude and see that there is always something, at least one thing, we can be grateful for each day
- to be the kind of parents our child with disability needs
- to be a light in this world which can, at times, seem to be filled with so much darkness
It is my prayer that readers of this blog would find encouragement, inspiration, and useful ideas as they, too, go through their own journeys with their loved ones who have special needs.