I am joining the Disability March because I just discovered it and it affords me the opportunity to have my voice heard in a way that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. The election of Donald Trump has the potential to affect me greatly, as I am disabled, living off disability, and am only able to have insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. I have Lupus, Interstitial Lung Disease (which forces me to be on oxygen 24/7), and a host of other “Friends Who Can Kill Me” as I like to call them. It’s not physically feasible for me to attend, but the Disability March gives me the virtual mobility that I don’t have in reality.

I was diagnosed in April of 2013, and to say my life was changed would be a vast understatement. The biggest and most painful of these changes was that I had to stop working in the Disabled Community. For nearly 15 years I worked in service of Adults with Developmental Disabilities and I loved it tremendously. Every day is a day of adjustment and acceptance but I am alive … and that is most important. I live that Darth Vader life now, and I live it gratefully.