I took this pic at the St. Louis botanical gardens earlier this summer. Love that place!
Can I share a little something that has been bugging the heck out of me?
Thanks.
I need to share a little back story so this will make sense.
My baby sister, Amy, is nine years younger than me. You can imagine how special I thought she was since I was big enough to help care for her when she was born!
Unfortunately, she was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. One of these days, I want to tell you all about her and the way she has blessed so many others by the way she lives her life.
Can you say "miracle"?
Amy had a double lung transplant 17 years ago and is beginning to suffer the effects of all those years on anti-rejection drugs. The very drugs that have kept her alive are beginning to do some pretty negative things to her body. She keeps her chin-up and could teach a lot of people about working through pain and discomfort.
I'm getting distracted. Sorry.
Anyway, she has to make lots of trips to St. Louis to see various doctors, and since I am no longer working full-time, I am privileged to accompany her on many of those trips. That brings me to my rant for today.
Amy always has to wear a mask as soon as she enters the hospital-all those germs could be very harmful to someone with a compromised immune system. So there is that. Then, depending on how she is feeling that day, sometimes I push her in a wheelchair. Barnes is a huge place and moving from one appointment to another can involve over a mile or so of walking. Sometimes she just doesn't feel like doing it. Or sometimes she wants to wear cute shoes and she is a little unsteady on her feet occasionally.
Don't judge! Everyone deserves to wear cute shoes once in awhile!
Here is the surprising fact. People can be AMAZINGLY rude to someone wearing a mask or in a wheelchair. They run in front of us in line at the elevators, causing us to have to wait for the second or third open door at times. They stare. Or worst of all in my opinion, they look at me and totally ignore Amy.
Shameful.
Here is my request. When you see someone who is ill or disabled or obviously having some type of issue, please don't act like they are invisible. Don't stare. And for Pete's sake, don't push them to the back of the line.
Please just treat them the same way you would like to be treated yourself or you would like your own baby sister to be treated.
