DisChristmas Ornaments

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Let me tell you the story behind DisChristmas

DisChristmas Ornaments have a unique story behind them. A sole wheelchair ornament came to me in a dream! Indeed, it’s true.

Here’s the story….. During lockdown(March 2020) in NYC, I was working on this site and became engrossed in all things Disability. Somehow I came across a zoom that was showing an advance screening of Crip Camp–A Disability Revolution. With a title like that, how could I not be intrigued?

Anyhoo, after watching, I was awestruck when the moderator announced one of the film’s stars, Judy Heumann was here with us. Say what ? ? Judy Heumann, the lady that got ADA passed ?! That we just saw in the movie ????! Here now ???! Whoah.

You have to remember Zoom was still very new back then. The best to describe it is like this, It was like opening your gifts on Christmas morning and Santa walking in and saying “So what’d ya think? How’d I do ?” That’s the feeling I had. While it was a dark time in Manhattan, that moment lit a fire in me. That was it. My path was chosen. I decided I would make it my mission to help make the world more accessible to everyone. My heart gleamed with excitement.

Later that night I awoke from a dream of an image of a wheelchair ornament hanging from a Christmas tree. Much to my dismay, the image wouldn’t leave me alone. Rather than try to get back to sleep I decided to draw what I had seen. Time went by as time does and then I got brave enough to schedule a meeting with Kurt Adler Inc.

As I prepared for my big moment , I had my annual mammogram. Sadly, they called after and said something didn’t look right. With that, I was scheduled for a biopsy and ultrasound. Wouldn’t you know they’d schedule the appointment on the same day as the Adler meeting? Yep. it was, but I wasn’t going to reschedule either event. Both were equally important in my book.

At first, the day started off as great. Kurt Adler Inc. accepted my idea. Leaving their offices I was on cloud 9. Then came my doctor’s appointment. Dun dun dun dun dun….you know what’s coming. Before I even left the building I was told that they were 95 % sure I had Breast Cancer. Talk about having the other shoe drop. Geez, what a day!

Lucky for me the cancer was at stage 1 and treatable. Immediately I had a lumpectomy followed by 6weeks of chemo, and radiation. Some days were very hard but drawing different designs for ornaments helped me persevere. The feeling of Christmas and Purpose does wonders for the soul. I’m proud to say I’m now cancer-free. Yeehaw!

Let’s get festive DisChristmas shall we ?

In the meantime, schedule your yearly mammogram, please.

Always remember Christmas ornaments never go out of style.

Click here to learn more about Crip Camp https://thedisabilityallynyc.com/category/entertainment/movies/?v=7516fd43adaa

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More DisChristmas Designs will be Released in January each year See them first here https://www.instagram.com/dischristmas4u/