Sometimes a great sense of humor goes a long way

We all know that growing up with a disability can be a little frustrating at times so some of you might be surprised when I say that over the years many things have happened to me that now make me laugh. You can ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I have a great sense of humour which for me comes in very handy in certain situations. Now please don’t get me wrong there is nothing funny about having a disability there are just certain things that have happened to me related to my condition that I find somewhat humorous.

Falling is just a part of having Muscular Dystrophy

 

 Growing up with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy you learn pretty quickly that falling is just something you will have to get use to and at times it does lead to some embarrassing situations. So you can understand that there are many incidences that I still remember even some that happened to me as a child. Over the years I have learned to become very creative when came to dealing with falls that occurred in public. I remember a time as a teen when I joined a few of my friends at a local community event and at one point we decided to take a short cut across some grass and like so many times before I find the one place where the ground is uneven resulting in my leg giving out and me falling. This happened so quickly that my friends didn’t even notice so they just kept on walking but eventually they realize that I was no longer walking with them and at that point they turned around and saw me sitting on the ground they asked what had happened and I said the first thing that came to my mind I told them I had just stopped to tie my shoe. Now obviously this wasn’t the truth but it was the only thing I could come up with at the time and I still think to this day they believe that’s exactly what happened.

 

To be honest at times throughout my childhood I wanted to ignore the fact that I had Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy. Many times I simply try my best to hide the fact that I struggled physically. When you’re much younger this is easy to do but when I reached my late teens that’s when things started to change. At one point I was actually tempted to just tell people that I have issues walking due to an old football injury thinking it might gain me more acceptance from my peers and of course I never went through with it but it did cross my mind. Now as I got older and once I started working the fact that I had Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy was next to impossible to hide. You see as our muscles get weaker certain situations have a bigger impact on our lives for me the biggest challenge lately has been dealing with adverse weather conditions. I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed but sometimes windy days are the most challenging and I can guarantee you that most people who are living with Becker's Muscular Dystrophy would agree with me that high winds and walking don't mix. 

A simple gust of wind blows me off course 

I actually remember a time once when I was being dropped off at work on a very windy day and as I was walking towards the front door and a gust of wind came along pushing me off course. The next thing I know I'm walking right into the window beside the door. Was this embarrassing? Yes but for some reason this story always makes me laugh since I view this situation similar to a bird that accidentally flies straight into a window leaving its imprint. At the time it wasn’t very funny but now I look back at this story and it always makes me laugh. The truth is funny things happen to me all the time. Just the other day while walking around in my apartment one of my legs gave out resulting in me falling then like a hockey player I body checking the display cabinet in our front hall. Thankfully the display cabinet was ok and best of all I was able to avoid injury. Now over the years I haven’t always been so lucky and I know in the future I will face a few challenges but for now I aim to stay positive knowing a great sense of humour goes a long way in helping me get through certain situations.