did you origionally walk with cretches before your accident?
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Peterson <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, January 09, 1999 1:45 AM
Subject: Happy New Year!!


>Happy New Year to each and everyone of you, and may 1999  be the
>best ever for all of you as we enter the home stretch towards the
>century mark!!
>
>Out of all the Christmas presents I received this year, there is
>one that stands out that will never be replaced or exchanged at
>any cost.  I got my life back!!
>
>For those of you who know me well, you may remember that it was
>just 6 years ago right around this time, that I was seriously
>burned in a fire.  I was hospitalized for almost a year, and more
>then once I  almost died.
>
>Up until this last year, I thought I would never be able to
>regain the independence I so enjoyed up to the time of my
>accident.  Do to my injuries, I lost the bulk of use in both my
>arms, and the complete loss of both my legs below the knee do to
>amputation.  Despite many hours of rehab and exercise, it was
>next to impossible for me to wheel myself around with the speed
>and accuracy  that I use to.  So then I had to come up with a
>plan to convince my insurance carrier to pay for an electric
>wheelchair.  But deep down I just knew being blind &C-P wouldn't
>land me a new chair anytime soon if at all.  But thanks to the
>help and encouragement of allot of great people, in the end it
>all worked out, and I couldn't have ended up with a better
>chair!!
>
>The other part of this that means so much to me, is that as of
>this last November,  my Mother Jean and I officially became
>Mother and Son again.  She's lived here with me pretty much
>nonstop 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the last 4 years.  As
>some of you know, before I got hurt I had lived on my own for
>over 20 years.  So to have to go back to depending  totally on my
>Mom again for everything after so long was quite an abrupt change
>for both of us  to say the least.    There were lots of times
>when it was very hard for me to see her as my Mother when she was
>also my primary care-giver so much of the time.
>
>But thanks to the Regional Center Of California, Mom and I are
>both back in our own homes and very happy!!  The Regional Center
>provides many kinds of programs and services for those who are
>developmentally disabled.  I know some of you may have questions
>as to just what that term means.  It applies in my case because
>both my C-P and blindness happened at birth.  But there's also a
>much broader definition of the term.   I'm going to respectfully
>defer to others here who will be able to put it in a much better
>context then I can.
>
>so I am now in a supported living program.  The way it works is
>that the Regional Center came in and evaluated  my needs.  Unlike
>the majority of county or state service delivery programs in the
>country who's only concern is that their consumers have just
>enough support to enable them to get up, dressed, and fed, and
>then go back to bed at night, they assist me in being able to
>live a life outside my home as well.  They help me with
>activities such as swimming, being able to travel via mass
>transit,  being able to visit friends etc.  For those of you who
>live here in California and Wisconsin (Someone please correct me
>if I'm  wrong, but I believe Wisconsin still has a supported
>living program do they not?)  and are consumers of Regional
>Center, I'm sure you know just what I'm talking about.
>
>For those of you on the C-P list, I think back to the many
>discussions we've had over the issue of what we would do once our
>parents and or other family members could no longer be there for
>us.  I am sooo very thankful that I'm in a position where that
>issue is no longer the priority that it used to be.  I really
>hope the Feds will continue to take money from institutions that
>only continue to warehouse and stunt the growth of all to large
>numbers of us and begin to set up more supported living models
>and other independent living alternatives.  We need to utilize
>forums such as On  A Roll Radio and The Ragged Edge, to help
>assure all of us who are disabled have the opportunity to get
>into some kind of supported or other independent living program.
>
>For those of you who feel you have nowhere to turn, it's so
>important that you do not give up.  I almost did.
>
>If you find your self at home right now with ageing parents, or
>you just want to find a easy way out of your house and to that
>restaurant or coffee shop down the street start by talking to the
>other disabled folks around you.  You might be surprised at what
>can happen when even just 2 people unite  them sells around an
>issue.  I know all to well how hard it is to motivate your self
>when you wake up in the morning and all you can feel are the
>walls caving in around you.  But my experience has shown me that
>particularly during those times, it's more important then ever to
>not give in to that feeling.  Just get together with your friends
>and decide to meet with each other on a weekly basis.  If for
>some reason you just aren't able to meet as a group, then talk to
>each other on the phone.  Even when you feel something is
>hopeless, you'll be amazed at how much better you feel just by
>talking to one another!!  When I was laying in the hospital so
>badly burned and in so much pane, I thought there was no way I
>would ever be sitting  in front of this keyboard writing to any
>of you ever again.  As glad as I was to finally be released from
>the hospital after all those months, my biggest fear was that I
>would never be able to live independent of my Mother ever again.
>I could sit here for the next hour naming all the people that
>helped me get back to where I am today.  Instead, let me just
>thank all of you who have helped me to be a whole person again.
>You're all so cool and I couldn't have done it with out you!!!
>
>Before I sign off, I want to say a word of praise to all my
>support staff.  Thanks to Howard, Amy, K.C., Heather Rebecca, and
>Jennifer.  As a team, we kick but!!  And oh yeah, thanks Mom.  I
>know there were times during the last 6 or more years we almost
>killed each other but in the end I think we both grew a hell of
>allot.  I love ya!!!
>
>So Happy New Year to all!!-Gary
>