Humbly Courageous

Hello and welcome back! Hope this week has been a productive one. I have had a lot of new readers reach out recently, which is very exciting! Humbly Courageous is growing and that makes me smile! I appreciate the kind comments I’ve received, and a few “you’re a good writer”comments, which is not something I ever planned on hearing in my life. This little space has sure brought me more joy than you could imagine. So, thank you! Growing up, my mom was a fantastic cook. She learned from her mom, and our family has a lot of really awesome recipes that have been passed down many generations. I can’t think of any “secret” recipes we have, but by far our family’s most famous are probably angel biscuits and our Thanksgiving fried dressing recipe. My mom would have my sister and I help some in the kitchen when we were younger, or we would watch her cook. I learned a lot just by watching her.  I got more interested in cooking when Jamie and I moved to Memphis. I liked it because it was somet...

Hello and welcome back, if it’s your first time here I’m glad you are here! This past week was a doozy. Dropping your kid off for college is no joke! The days leading up to it are emotional, and then when you say that last goodbye and walk away, oh man. I’m pretty sure I made some kind of painful sound I’ve never made before as I hugged Luke goodbye, my tears freely flowing. I had hoped to hold it together until I reached the car because it was also a happy and exciting time, but nope! The night before he left, he wanted to sit outside with us and have a fire in our fire pit out back. As we were sitting there enjoying the night, Jamie said “have you ever looked at the house at night from this vantage point?” To which I responded, “yes, but not very often.” After that, I couldn’t get it out of my mind that things can look so different depending on how you view them. I’ll be the first to admit that I spent most of my life viewing my disability stuck at the same vantage point. Feet firmly...

Hello, I hope it’s been a great week, glad you are here today at Humbly Courageous. I can remember the exact moment I found out I was pregnant with my firstborn son, Luke. I remember where I was standing, and exactly  what I said to Jamie when I called to share the news with him.  I remember being excited but at the same time scared. Living with Muscular Dystrophy, I was very nervous for how I would handle it all. Funny thing is, as I’m now counting the hours, only about 48 more before we drop him off at college, I’m feeling the same thing. Excited and scared. Excited for him and the possibilities that lie ahead, but scared for the feelings that follow, as we head home without him. Settling into our new normal, just the three of us. Emotions are already high. It was always Purdue 🖤 When you look back on life, you can have these moments of quick snapshots, one after another that just go through your mind. The memories that surface, of a life lived together. Good times, bad tim...

Hello and welcome back, or if you are new here glad you stopped by! Is there something in your life that has happened to you since the beginning that you dread each time it happens? Something you wish would go away, but yet it keeps recurring? Something that causes you anxiety each time you think about it happening because you think it may be worse than the last time it happened? For me, it is falling. I don't have a time in my life where I can remember that falling wasn't a worry in my life.  When I was very little, I would trip and always fall hard straight on my knees. I remember one incident when my friend and I were just walking into school, you know, just trying to fit in, middle school ha! Doing my best to "blend" in with my very awkward gait. All of a sudden, my toe caught on the waxy floor and down I went, flat on my face. I was wearing a matching pink shirt and pants with white tennis shoes, it was raining that day. Vivid memory. I was devastated, and sad. T...

Hello! Thanks for stopping by Humbly Courageous! This week’s post is actually over on MDA’s Quest Blog. Head over and check it out! See you back here for next week for a recap on my latest speech as National Ambassador.  https://strongly.mda.org/national-ambassador-shares-the-value-of-friendship/

Hello and welcome! I don’t know if it’s because my son is leaving for college in approximately 3weeks, or if it’s the fact that my youngest is now driving, but I feel like trying to hold onto this summer, as it quickly slips away, is what I want most! Time is such a funny thing. When you want it to go fast it goes slow, and when you want to stop time in it’s tracks, it seems to go by in the blink of an eye.  It feels like just yesterday I was meeting my husband Jamie for the first time in the science hall of our high school. That was over 30 years ago! Not too long after I started dating Jamie, he said something that I believe was the seed that was planted to start me on my journey of accepting myself, disability and all. Up until that time, I struggled quite a bit with, why me? I would continue to struggle with that for a long time, and would be lying if I said that thought never crossed my mind to this day. It’s infrequent now though, and it’s taken a lot of hard work to get to t...

Hello my fellow humbly courageous readers. Yet another week of summer has flown by. I hope you have been enjoying some of your favorite outdoor activities. We’ve checked a few fun activities off of our summer bucket list so far! In a past blog post, I talked about my experience as a waitress back when I was in college. I discussed the mental and physical challenges I had as a waitress with a disability. One of the hardest jobs I’ve ever done! Throughout my life I’ve had lots of different work experiences. For me, growing up it was never a question of whether I would work or not, just when and where. As someone living with a disability, finding and maintaining a job can be difficult for many different reasons. One of the main obstacles is that employers are often not understanding that the challenges we face with our disabilities are often unpredictable and frequent. They don’t understand that from one day to another we just don’t know how our body will function. For me, which is obviou...