Instead of the usual quote, I give you a list to ponder – Invisible Disabilities:
Back Injury, Brain Injury, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Heart Condition, Muscular Disorders, Neurological Disorders, Seizure Disorders, Spinal Disorders, Bone Disorders, Chronic Injuries, Organ Transplant, Oxygen Impairment, Difficult Pregnancy, Prosthetic, Surgery and several others.
*
Impudence to the nth degree (For Carly Jay and too many others)
*
Pulling into the parking lot
Of the local market
Rushed as oft happens
A young woman parked
A spot reserved for handicapped
*
Indignant you drive in to another spot
Why must you; hipper, prettier, older
Hurried and harried walk so far?
I wouldn’t – who does she think she is?
A spot reserved for handicapped
*
We cannot see her scars
There are no signs alerting us
To the fragile lungs
The crazy quilt torso
A spot reserved for handicapped
*
Self-righteousness and indignation
Spill over when you glance her way
Usually smiling – a grimace shoots
Her way, your eyes like arrows
To that spot reserved for handicap
*
Assuming can handicap
Well hidden – discrimination
On the shaky grounds of assumption
Aggression, exclusion are the daggers
Targeting those with invisible handicap
*
Many disabilities remain shrouded
Independence a fragile line
That spot is reserved for handicap
*
Bisous,
Léa
poetry, photos and musings oh my! 
Even more powerful upon reading again Lea, and a great tribute to your friend and all the other invisibly disabled out there who need voices such as yours in this terrific poem.
Love
xxx
Christine, I believe you know it was for you as well as the many others. It was the anger after reading Carly’s piece that lit the fuse. I’ve seen it way to often and even experienced a bit myself with a few friends I use to transport.
Love
xxx
Thank you Lea for including me in your thoughts. There is a poster that goes around my support group that says, ” You can take my parking place with pleasure if you take my disability too”. There are, too, others that are a tad more rude! xxx
I had to include you as you are frequently in my thoughts. Love the poster! I might like the others even more… 🙂 xxx
😄😄 xxx
🙂 xxx
Here’s another angle….my chronic arthritis often has me walking very slowly, in excruciating pain, and I use a cane . I am visibly handicapped, BUT if I don’t have an official tag in the car saying that I’m entitled to park in the handicap spot, there are those who will give me a hard time about it…..visibility doesn’t always count, either, to small, officious minds! (I do get annoyed when people I know are not handicapped take those spaces so I can’t..) It’s a strange world…..
I can only speak for myself but know that in such cases it is best to put the brakes on my mouth until the brain can engage! There are many reasons why people need these parking places and it is best to remember, not all those reasons are VISIBLE! Yes Cynthia, it is a strange world.
we def. should be careful with assumptions cause there are too many things we cannot see…
Absolutely!
Has significant impact and very well written!
How kind you are Cindy. Thank you!
It was an angry response to not only the post I reblogged but of what I have observed too many times.
My daughter has been diagnosed with a bone malformation and a mild form of cerebral palsy, neither of which are obvious to the eye. This will probably be her life. Thanks for the call to awareness.
We all must be aware. Years ago, I lost a daughter. Her cerebral palsy was not so mild and she had a large hole in her heart, repaired but not before severe lung damage. My friend Carly posted about her issue and my anger got busy and wrote this… My best to you and your family.
This really highlights how ignorant some people can be – just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there. A very powerful, thought-provoking write Lea. You go girl!! 😀 xx
Thank you so much for your support Becka! I do appreciate it. 🙂
A thought provoking and powerful poem Lea. I have two people in my family with unseen handicaps both from the neurological side of things and so when I see someone using this park who does not look handicapped I bite my tongue. Having said that there are people out there who just don’t care and its sad for those who need that extra help in their day.
Absolutely Kath! I am fortunate not to need a handicap spot to park in. However, having worked with a number of people whose dis-abilities were both visible and invisible. I wrote it after reading a post by my dear friend Carly Jay who lives in your part of the world. I always learn something from her and am always inspired. She is THE most courageous young woman I know.
I don’t like people who park in handicap spaces because they are too lazy to walk 40 feet more. One of my pet pees. We never know the pain of another. Thank you for posting the poem.
Humans often feel entitled to judge others based simply on their own judgements. I have spent many years in helping professions and I was clued in early to the invisible pain of others.
Oh, Lea! How could it be that I only just saw this? I was going through my comments and there you were! I can think of so many people this piece could apply to … the sense of entitlement some people have is extraordinary, but I like to think that for each one of them, there are two kinder, more compassionate souls waiting. I can only imagine the pain you went through losing a child. It is something far bigger than I can ever imagine. Always remember that you did the best you could and that you were and are a wonderful mother. Your daughter was truly blessed to have you XO
Carly, it was written in response to a post of yours that I reblogged last summer so it was inspired by you.
As for Jacqueline, I was the one blessed by her. She taught me so much. XO