Humbly Courageous

Hello, welcome to Humbly Courageous! I am glad you are here.  It has been a while since I have put out a new blog post. Life has been busy! My husband and I are working on some new projects that are coming soon for Humbly Courageous. Writing my weekly column for the newspaper keeps my writing skills sharp. I am still working as a freelance writer for Hamilton County Tourism doing accessibility reviews. For more on those, you can check them out at  https://www.visithamiltoncounty.com/blog/stories/author/amy-shinneman/66a139f164247c0b89bee6d4/ I recently had my 14th stem cell infusion. I had not had one since September 2025. I went twice as long in between treatments this time. Typically, I do infusions every four months, but I had to have surgery in December. The recovery set me back a few months.  There was some drama with receiving my stem cells this time around. My cells are banked in a different state, so I have to have them shipped to my doctor each time. The day of m...

Hello, welcome to Humbly Courageous. I’m so glad you are here! It seems like the blink of an eye since I was wrapping up 2024, yet here I am trying to remember all that I did in 2025. I would like to start by saying, I apologize for slacking on my weekly blog posts. Sometimes I think, how did I ever do this every week?! As many of you know, I am also wrapping up year two of writing my weekly column for my hometown newspaper. It certainly became more challenging to put out two weekly writings.  One thing I never want to do is just put out a blog post or column without the quality of content behind it.  Reflecting on the year, I thought, did I do much this year? Funny how our minds have trouble grasping all that went into an entire year. The year started out strong with my annual snow walk. It’s always a goal to get one walk in the snow. This year was with Jamie and Jack by my side. They even helped me do a snow angel. What a special memory! Shortly after that, I was asked to r...

Hello! Welcome to a new week at Humbly Courageous. I am glad you are here! Last Saturday, my husband and I completed our first half marathon together at the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. It feels strange to say half marathon, since we have done five full marathons together all over the country, and even one in Berlin. This one was special. Joined by our two sons, we crossed our first family finish line. In addition, we had a team of people who signed up to run under team Humbly Courageous for our “hometown” half marathon. It was the perfect day for a run. Sunny, no wind, and a chill in the air. Great for the runners, and riders like me. The last time we ran the Indy Monumental I wore full rain gear. I was especially grateful for this beautiful day! Along with our team of runners, we had many who reached out to ask if they could help in some way. We had so many great cheerleaders along the course, which just makes it that much more special. Hearing people yell, “Go...

Hello, welcome to Humbly Courageous. I am so glad you are here. I hope my blog brings a sense of understanding  what living a life with a disability can be like, or helps you to feel seen as a human who has value. This is just one perspective, but I believe all our perspectives hold value and have the capability to help others in unique ways.  As a child, I often had this sinking feeling. It felt like an emptiness deep inside my body. It was a powerful feeling, and I felt very unsettled by it.  It was a sad feeling, and I never knew where it came from. I kept this to myself.  Several years later, I was courageous enough to tell my best friend about it. She quickly responded, “I get that too!”  I could tell that she was as relieved as I was to find someone to commiserate with. We described in detail what this felt like to each other. We were both happy that we found someone who understood.  Neither of us had ever told anyone else about this. As the years wen...

Hello! I am so grateful to all of my readers for being here! I have noticed that I have a lot of new readers here at Humbly Courageous. I wanted to share a blog post this week, to introduce myself to new readers. When we are forced to face an everyday battle, courage is inevitable.  This was the thought I had from which Humbly Courageous was born almost 5 years ago! It is hard to believe that it has been that long.  I am a 51 year old wife and mom of two college aged boys. Along with this blog, I also have a weekly column in my local newspaper called “Disability in the City”. I place great emphasis on keeping my body functioning to the very best of its ability. I enjoy exercising and participating in adaptive sporting activities.  I am an ambulatory wheelchair user at this point in my life.  I grew up with my disability present with symptoms from a very early age. When my parents noticed I was not walking on my own around 16 months, they decided to get me checked out...

Dear Disabled Motherhood, As a child, I never dreamed being a mother could be my reality. As I got older, I boldly proclaimed I did not want kids every chance I got.  I was suiting up in an armor of protection, thinking if I told myself that long enough, I would believe it.  My childhood years spent playing with my dolls pretending to be a mother, but not really believing that would ever by my reality. Now I know, that was a lie I told myself to soften the blow. I did want kids. I just did not think my body was capable. God placed a glimmer of hope in my heart, telling me I could be a mom. We trusted that. To this day, I still spend many moments in awe marveling at the ease in which I was able to become pregnant, twice. Nothing ever came easy. I expected pregnancy would not either. What a true blessing that took me by surprise. What did not come easy was finding information on becoming a disabled mom. The books that were out there had so many things in them that did not apply ...