Hello friends. I have a feeling I'm about to begin a cascade of political posts. So much has been bottling up inside me and I've been mostly quiet with the exception of Facebook posts. With VP Pence breaking today's Senate tie in confirming Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education I'm done. I can no longer stay quiet. I WILL NOT BE QUIET.
I do not understand nor will I ever accept that access to healthcare is anything other than a fundamental right. This country that deigns to call itself so "great" and yet allows its people to die because they can't afford to seek medical attention; doesn't at all support new parents raising the next generation with paid maternity/paternity leave; and now puts a person in charge of education who has no background in it, has never been to a public education facility or sent her own children to one, who has no idea how to measure student growth (or even that there was more than one way to do so!), and doesn't believe that neurotypical students should have to endure being educated with their atypical peers will NEVER be a GREAT country. PERIOD.
Don't tell me that I have the right to move if I don't like the school system where I'm located. Finding a comparable job, picking up and moving (especially with an autistic child who struggles with even the most basic changes in his routine), and having access to quality healthcare in the new location is NOT easy. Yes, my husband could probably find a job in his field easily enough though I doubt it would allow us to stay together. We depend so much on our support network. When you have special needs kids, you have to. We have two of them.
I've gotten really good at doing just the bare minimum and it takes all of the energy I have to do just that. Hubby works his ass off like so many other men and women do. He's a professional and his job doesn't allow for much time with his family. We knew that when he started this path. What we didn't know was that we'd end up with major health issues in addition to his grueling schedule. It wasn't something that could have been foreseen. Two years into pharmacy school, hubby developed Rheumatoid Arthritis. His joints are incredibly painful and swell. His feet and hands are the worst and his job requires standing all day and constantly opening and closing childproof bottles. Try doing that for 10 or 12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week while your body screams at you to rest. When he comes home, he has little choice but to listen to his body. The medicine he takes to keep the RA from destroying his joints only helps the pain minimally and it compromises his immune system and can cause blood problems, heart failure, Multiple Sclerosis, seizures, and cancer. But it's better than having his joints disintegrate in his 40's. But it leaves little time for him to enjoy his family or even contribute to the household in any way other than his income. Changing directions career-wise wasn't an option when he was diagnosed since he had already taken out expensive student loans for his education. It's still not an option because of those student loans which can't even be discharged if we had to file for bankruptcy.
I have so much going through my head right now that I feel like I have verbal diarrhea as I sit here typing my thoughts as they come to me. I'm going to take a break for now to go get Sunshine from the bus stop.
Until next time.
Willow
