a letter to disability//

hello disability,

i have known you for a while and now you live inside my home. i met you years ago & would visit you at work or at family gatherings but now we know each other well. you go by many names and in our home you go by a few.

i sometimes wonder where you came from and why you’ve made our home yours. i used to wonder how long you’d stay and now i think maybe forever. regardless of your beginning or how you came to live here, i know one thing for sure. a lot of people know you & while we have made ourselves more than just occasional acquaintances, you know lots of other people too.

some don’t like you and try to close the door before you can make your way in. others are forced to let you in after some incessant knocking. and yet you sometimes cause a lot of people to feel like they’re the only ones who have had to make you their friend.

but i refuse to be ashamed of you, disability. i refuse to keep silent about who you are and the ways you’ve changed our lives. yes, sometimes i do imagine my life without you but there is no time for wondering because there is a little girl you and i both know well who doesn’t have time to imagine her life without you. she doesn’t have the option of forcing you back outside and i won’t either.

you are a part of our family now and will forever be. so let’s get to know each other more. i don’t know that i’ve really introduced myself officially.

so hi disability! my name is taylor and that little girl we both know so well is my daughter and i love her more than anything in this world. so while maybe we didn’t open our door wide to let you in, you’re here now and i think you picked the right family to spend time with.

love,

taylor

written on may third, twenty twenty five