Tag: disability

manifesto

A small truth gently unfolded itself very quietly last night.

I have been working on a book-length memoir for a few years, and it is close to finished. It needs one more good edit, maybe some beta readers, and another edit before I either try to get it published or create a Substack.  But.

But . . . but . . . but . . .

There is no way that I am going to get it finished. Not right now, not before the end of the year, or before my January birthday—both goals. Maybe I will never finish it. This is an awful truth. Maybe everyone else sees it, has seen it for a long time, and is rolling their eyes or mentally saying, “duh!” Okay, but not me. I am either that eternal optimist or someone who refuses to look reality in the face.

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Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 5

the ride

Morning wait for The Ride.  Julia takes The Ride to her day center.  The Ride is our MTA van transportation for people with disabilities.  We are lucky to have something like it. Sometimes lucky; sometimes a curse. 

The Ride is safe, the drivers are helpful, the interface be it on computer or the phone are relatively effective.  The flaw in the scheme is reliability.  The Ride is notoriously unreliable.  So much so that Julia new day center does not allow clients to use The Ride to and from the center.

And I understand.

The Ride comes early, the Ride comes late, and sometimes it doesn’t come at all. A few times, The Ride has come to the wrong address and left, blaming Julia for not being available. Occasionally, they have used Lyft to pick Julia up from her day center and the Lyft driver has no idea that Julia will not be waiting outside for the Lyft car. 

Using The Ride for the past 15 months, I’ve come to understand how and when to communicate with the dispatchers.  If I find out that a Lyft vehicle will be used, I call and ask that the driver be given specific instructions. No one likes doing this. When The Ride fails to show up and I call the dispatcher for an immediate re-schedule, I refuse to be transferred to a department where I can lodge a complaint.  I don’t want to complain, I want the ride.

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Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 0

first day of school

 

Kindergarden
Kindergarden
Kindergarden
First Grade
First Grade
Second Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Fifth Grade
Fifth Grade
Sixth Grade
Sixth Grade
Sixth Grade
Seventh Grade
Seventh Grade
Seventh Grade
Eighth Grade
Eighth Grade

2:00 p.m. on the first day of school.  I have yearly dreams on the first days of school of doing something wonderful after I drop Julia off.  I thought I would be out in the garden moving plants and maybe get to the gym today.  Instead, the day up to this point has been sitting at my desk sorting though mail put aside, non-urgent financial matters, social security renewals, insurance questions, and calls to, or more precisely messages left for, therapy, therapy. therapy.  I have about an hour before pick up and instead of trying to cram something delightful into the time, I am just going to sit and tap. Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 5