A Letter For The International Day of Acceptance

To my followers, my friends,

Today is The International Day of Acceptance, a day to start conversations, make new friends and educate people about anyone who is disabled; be it someone like myself who has Lupus and often can not walk or stand, someone who is mentally retarded, or someone who is a paraplegic.

As a blogger my mission statement for my blog has always been two-fold: 1) to let chronically ill parents know that they are not alone and 2) to blog about being a parent in general, or life in general, and attract well people to my blog in order to for them to realize that sick people and well people are not so far apart.

In my personal opinion, I feel that we as disabled bloggers need to reach out to those who are healthy. To break down the barriers between us, to clear up the misconceptions about the chronically ill, and in general educate people about the challenges we face.

I try to write for other larger blogs, not just about my illness, but about a funny thing that my child said to me, or that my library is stalking me for a book I have overdue, or even about racial or religious slurs. I try to get my writing on larger sites in hopes of people reading my post there, then coming over to my blog, and learning that “Emily has Lupus, but she is a lot like me.”

It is by gaining the acceptance of healthy people that our collective voice will grow larger and then they will advocate for us too, because we are people that deserve the same rights as everyone.

I usually describe myself in three words in order of importance: Mother, Wife, Sick but today, on The International Day of Acceptance, I will put a fourth word in front of them all:

PERSON

I am a person, just like you.

Most sincerely,

Emily Cullen

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About mamasick

Emily Cullen is a pen-name. I suffer from chronic illnesses and diseases which include Bipolar Disorder, Asthma, Diabetes and Fibromyalgia. I had battled Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis but there is no longer evidence of me having these diseases and my Rheumatologist has declared them to be "burnt out" of my system. I am separated from my husband, “Grant”. Our son, “Tyler” was born in September of 2006 and suffers from tics and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and is delayed in fine and gross motor skills. In my blog I seek to let sick moms know that they are not the only ones going through this, and to educate people about what can happens when one becomes catastrophically ill. I also strive to break down stereotypes of what a “Welfare Mom” is like. Anything that I have gone through due to being sick, is written on the pages of Mama Sick.

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