Thursday, February 29, 2024

A Slice of my Memoir

 For those of you who don't know, I met a girl named, Katherine at the camp that I used to go to. She is my best friend. We text every day. I write about her in my memoir. Here's a little preview: 

 

The next day, we went on the Slip N’ Slide. It was placed on a grassy hill. It was a red tarp with a hose. When it was my turn, I was so excited! One counselor grabbed under my legs and one under my arm pits. Once I sat down on the tarp, I had a counselor sitting behind me and we slid down. Because the counselors were so young, they could just carry me up the hill. Katherine went next. She let out a cute sounding “wee” as she went down. It was really fun. The boys walked by us and had the “fun” idea of adding soap to the water.

            One guy counselor got an industrial sized bucket of soap and poured it down the tarp. While it was well intentioned, it made it extremely difficult because everything was slippery. Before the soap, one female counselor would spray water as we went down. It was fun because it made everything easy for counselors and campers. Easy for both parties means fun however, when it becomes hard, the fun stops. The thing is the soap got into our vaginas, so you literally had 15 girls feeling very uncomfortable.

            “Didn’t like that,” Katherine said. She would skip words like “I” or “the” because she struggled with full sentences. This didn’t reflect her cognitive ability. It just made her life easier.

            “It got up there,” I said. This was indicative of how quickly we bonded.

            “That guy was so stupid. He doesn’t have a hoo-ha,” another camper remarked.

            “Ladies, we get it. Let’s shower before lunch.” One of the head counselors said.

            I was annoyed because I would have rather been on the slide instead of showering soap off. That jerk! Once the showers were completed, we ate lunch.

            “It’s probably tater tot casserole,” Katherine said.

            “Is it good?”

            “Ehhh…”

            “So, it’s questionable.” I stated.

            Katherine nodded her head vigorously.

            I took one bite of the casserole and kindly requested cereal.

            “Lucky Charms, Cheerios, Wheaties…” Courtney was perusing the options for me.

.           “Lucky Charms.”

            No way Mom would let me have sugary cereal for lunch. This was so cool! There were so many kids who were wheelchair users and who used communication devices. Typically, I stuck out like a Starbucks coffee cup in a China cabinet in my high school cafeteria. Not this cafeteria. I fit in completely. Having Katherine by my side helped too.

That is about a page of the whole story. The stories of my memoir are all about you all. You make my life absolutely wonderful! I'm grateful for all of you. I am starting to post daily Instagram videos and I put some on YouTube so feel free to hop on there and check them out!

 

Nothing but Love,

Hannah!

 

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

January...


Instagram. For those of you who are not on that platform, I’ve been doing daily videos since December 2nd. They range from educating people about my disability to simply hoping people have a good day. It’s hard work thinking of ideas every day so if you have an idea, let me know. I’ve uploaded a small amount of content to YouTube also.

I did speak to a class at Elmhurst University. It was on disability awareness. I changed it up and told them a story about a difficult week in my life. It was about caregivers calling off and what that means for me. I liked being vulnerable and sharing the not so sparkly side of life. The class had a positive reaction to my story. You can see little snippets from the Q&A on Instagram.

I was supposed to have multiple speeches this month. The majority were canceled due to weird reasons such as illness, cars not starting, and snow days for schools. I hope Mother Nature calms down in February. I have always hated January and this January was no exception. I’m ready to welcome the month of love (and pink) in.

💓,

Hannah!

Friday, December 29, 2023

2024

Readers,  

Thank you for a wonderful year. The lows were astonishingly low, and the highs were very high. I was at the lowest I’ve ever been this summer. That was a monstrosity. On the flip side, speaking to little kids and getting an article published certainly were wonderful moments. You were there through it all and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the steadfast support. 

May we inch towards a brighter future in 2024! 

Love to All, 

Hannah!

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Karamo

I go to many Elmhurst University events. I live very close to the school so there’s no reason not to go. Back in September, I saw that Karamo Brown who is a TV talk show host, reality television personality, author, actor, and activist was coming to Elmhurst. I was going to go even if they put an ocean in between the University and me. I was going even if there was a blizzard. Thankfully, I did not have any of those obstacles that autumn evening.

Six weeks prior, I had texted my mom and asked if she wanted to go. She said no. However, my writing coach, Lex, was totally on board. He has an authentic passion for mental health which Karamo was going to speak about. When I asked, he agreed immediately. Smart man because I didn’t know it at the time, but we would have a remarkable evening together.

“Hey, Hannah!” Lex said as he walked across my condo parking lot. He was in a flannel shirt and jeans.

“Beautiful night,” I remarked after we started walking. We had been completely blessed with a gorgeous evening.

“You do know I’m just waiting for someone to ask you where your coat is,” Lex said with a smirk.

I immediately started laughing. People ask all the time why I’m not wearing a coat. I can’t easily take a coat on and off, so jackets are difficult. Actually, go to the blog post before this in which I explain further regarding the difficulty of a coat. We both laughed for a good five minutes about that.

We arrive at the University chapel. There must have been 1,500 people there. It’s large with white and brown pews accompanied by chandeliers on the ceiling. Then, it happened. Karamo arrived.

“It’s as if Michael Jordan walked in,” Lex stated.

“Seriously.”

Karama was at least seven feet tall with a shiny bald head and that man clearly works out. He may be gay, but I am a hot-blooded woman who is not blind. He took to the stage and gave a powerful talk about mental health and setting healthy boundaries. He’s phenomenal and I highly suggest his memoir: Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope. The most  amazing thing happened after his presentation. Elmhurst University administrators asked if I wanted to meet Karamo backstage. Is that even a question?

I started to type in, “I really admire you,” as we were directed backstage.

I rolled up and was able to say that and explain who Lex was to me and then my mind went blank. I was completely star struck.

Lex and Karamo

“Hey, nice to meet you,” Karamo said to Lex.

Karamo had a sixth sense about who was a true fan and who was “dragged” here. Lex was really excited to come, don’t get me wrong but he certainly didn’t know as much as I did about the gorgeous man in front of me.

“Hannah, what’s your story?” Karamo turned away from Lex asking me this question.

My story is you’re gorgeous. No, don’t type that, you idiot!

Lex came to the rescue, “She did her undergraduate work here and got her master’s from Loyola. She is my client, and she is working on a memoir.”

What Lex said.

“That’s great! Would you like to send me some chapters?” Karamo asked.

“Yes!” Thank you so much. You’re amazing! I have your book,” I managed to type.

“Oh great! I’ll write my email address in the book.”

Lex had the book ready to go. God bless Lex!

He wrote a message of warmth and encouragement.

“I am so grateful!” I managed to say to Karamo.

He gave me a huge hug which I will never forget. I had to turn around, which I managed to do. Once we were out of ear shot, we both freaked out.

“Did that just happen?”

“Oh my gosh.”

We repeated those sentiments about fifty times each. We were on Cloud 9.

The two of us had dinner at a nearby restaurant rehashing every moment again and again. It was such an incredible night that we will not forget.

 

A Slice of my Memoir

 For those of you who don't know, I met a girl named, Katherine at the camp that I used to go to. She is my best friend. We text every...