The foundation of my home is the self-acceptance of my disability: learning to accept the fact that I have cerebral palsy and all that comes with it. The structure might feel uneven, from my spastic falls and lack of internal and external balance, but my foundation wasn’t built on flat ground. I learned to lay wood floors that wouldn’t hurt as bad when I fell. It doesn't solve the rocky levels of trust that I have with my body. That trust is shaken when the floorboards come loose and I fall. But instead of anger and fighting my body, I started to learn how to fix the floors, on my own or with some help, and continue on to make the first floor my home. Building up the panels of self-respect, filling the walls with insulation of self-love, I built up my internal foundation.

I was one of the two Jewish students in the class but that never really bothered me, we were all unique and different in many ways, the most annoying part of it was being told I couldn’t eat my friend’s snacks. I could share with them but I couldn’t eat any of their snacks. Noah was the other Jewish student, I dont remember if he had Cerebral Palsy but I remember he used quite an intense wheelchair to help hold his body up.

Do I still want to win and do better every day for sure. But I fuel my body with love, care, and grace during this process and it feels much better. Also, I really love rowing and the sanctuary that is a rowing machine and the boat on the water.