Dystonia and Storytelling

You know the gang from Friends or How I Met Your Mother? My parents have that type of friend group. They are the most fantastic humans. Some of them literally were in the hospital room with my mother. They were watching All My Children with Mom experiencing contractions. I was coming! That day, I became part of a friend group that I would admire all my life. From begging to go on girl’s nights and Mom saying, “No, you have fun with Dad, OK?” Even at six years old, I knew those girl’s nights had to be more fun than having a bowl of Special K with Dad for dinner. Sometimes, he would take me swimming and I knew that at least rivaled the fun they were having-at least in my six-year-old mind. My point being my parent’s friends are a second family. When I got the chance to tell a story from my memoir in front of them, it was a blast!

We were at Fitzgerald’s, a bar outside of Chicago. Maureen, a redheaded woman is the founder of Voicebox. This is a storytelling event for artists. My Uncle Gary has performed at this event for years.
He encouraged me to participate and after a little encouragement, I agreed. 

This is an excerpt from my story. These are some of my inner thoughts as I roll around Loyola back in 2018:

“It’s late September so thankfully I don’t need a coat. Coats will always be hard because I cannot take them on or off by myself. In the winter, I typically get from one building to another without a coat just by going super-fast. Typically, I’m questioned about my coat at least 300 times per winter. Able-bodied people will say, “It’s cold,” or my favorite, “You should have a coat on.” Easy for you to say when you have the ability to shrug a coat on and off. I do not have that ability. You are stopping me to point out the fact that it’s cold is just creating more time outside for me. I get that you have good intentions, but you are a barrier to warmth by stopping me.”

The truth is simply funny. This story will be published in March. I’m beyond thrilled! I'll keep you updated.

My mom’s girlfriends, Jet, and Margie came out for a Dystonia fundraiser. They are so supportive. We walked around Brookfield Zoo wearing our tee shirts for Dystonia.

As most of you saw on social media, I had the privilege of speaking at the cathedral in Joliet. They brought the 5^th graders from several schools. It was the first day of a three-part series. I cannot wait for the second day which is in January. The kids at my church recognized me and said hello this weekend. It was so cute!

I’m busy and loving life!

 Happy Halloween,

Hannah!