Credits: Be Brave by Studio Jx2, challenge template by Dagilicious
Pop drove me to Cleveland Clinic to meet with Matt, the physical therapist, to talk about disability and whether or not I had a chance to collect it or could find some sort of work. After talking for a a few hours and going through several tests, Matt felt very sad to tell me at this point I’d waited too long to apply and I would not be eligible at all for any type of disability. It gets worse. He can also confirm that because of my disabilities from MS, I'm really not qualified for any sort of work. I suggested "I could be a motivational speaker." And he said even for that I would need someone to help me dress, complete paperwork, get to places where I had speaking engagements. I can't financially hire the assistance that would be necessary. The probability is also that I would be too exhausted to perform once I got there. Also the unpredictability about MS would make it hard to schedule and make it to committed appearances.
My dad was kind of quiet as we shook hands with Matt and left the Mellen Center. I don't think he was expecting the big smile on my face and that I’d be talking a mile a minute once we got in the car. I am capable and experienced in things with video and while I've always been one who prefers to be behind the scenes and not in front of the camera, the one thing that I can do is computer stuff. I can still do video stuff and I have watched interviews with so many people that are successful video bloggers, vloggers, on late-night TV. The biggest thing is that they have the personality to make people care about stupid stuff. I have the personality and have always been able to gather groups of people to listen to me. And I have useful stuff to talk about. I have done a lot of research and still have more to do but I’ve started doing some practice sitting in front of the computer and talking. I have some things that I need to re-teach myself from broadcast school back in 1990. But I can make this work. On good days when I'm in the wheelchair I can vlog on location or do video stuff. On less energetic days, I can edit and put together b-roll, vignettes to be part of future vlogs.
It's a dream right now, but it's never too late to dream and pursue a dream. Maybe in the next couple years I'LL be one of those guests on late night TV!
