Once again, our talented author, Heidi Cave, knocks it out of the park with a wonderful article in the Orange County Register about motherhood and disabilities.
Let’s face it, being a mom is hard work – the hardest job I know I’ll ever posses, because, for starters, it’s a job that never ends, and the pay sucks. You can’t wake up one morning and give notice. “Sorry, gang, I quit. Go ahead and eat Twinkies for breakfast.” Nope, it’s a lifer job. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But to perform this commanding job with a major disability? This is what puts Heidi at the top of my You Rock list.
Heidi’s life was forever changed when a brain-dead asswipe of a kid drag raced himself into Heidi’s car at high speed, careening her car clear across the street and down an embankment, where the car burst into flames and killed her best friend. Doctors worried Heidi wouldn’t make it, either, and were forced to put her into an induced coma.
Heidi spent over a year dealing with major skin grafts from burns suffered over 51% of her body, and the loss of both her legs. At 23. Can you imagine your entire life going hideously wrong at the tender age of 23? That’s the heart and soul of FANCY FEET.
Now, compound the demands of motherhood. I remember countless nights of walking the floor with a colicky baby, chasing after tiny feet in order to tape up the other side of a diaper, swinging happy-squealing little bodies at the park, baby wrangling at Costco…all these things I took for granted because my life was hideously uncomplicated.
Heidi is my reminder that life can go to shit in the blink of an eye, and it’s our resilience, our conscious decisions that determine whether we’re going to deflate like my attempts at baking, or facing the onslaught with a raised fist that says, “Screw you, shitstorm, I’m made of better stuff than that.”
Click on the link and read Heidi’s article because it’s representative of a lot more than mothering while disabled. Face it, we’re all disabled to some degree – whether it’s a physical injury, or the injuries that tattoo themselves on our hearts. Heidi said “hell yes!” to life, and reading her article put the jam in my jelly doughnut.
Go Heidi! Your babies are achingly adorable, and I know you approach motherhood the same way you do your writing – with intent and passion.
Filed under: Fancy Feet, Heidi Cave
