So. 31 December 2020. It’s come to you and it’s come to me.

I want to wax poetic about what I’ve learned this year. About coming through this. And while I’m immeasurably grateful for my family and dear friends 1/n

I find myself driven deeper into cynicism, secure in the knowledge that disabled folks are the invisible in society. And that when disability is mixed with any intersectional identity, access to services and care only gets worse. 2/n

Policy makers, administrators, and even friends and colleagues (with a few dear and wonderful exceptions) continue to forget disabled folks in decision making. 3/n

In the midst of a pandemic, we, as a society, had the opportunity to find our better selves, to create *new* systems and to *choose* to leave no one behind. And instead, we chose to keep doing more of the same. 4/n

My family lives with a great deal of privilege, but with 3 disabled family members, we *still* fall through cracks and have been incredibly negatively impacted by the pandemic. It. Is. So. Much. Worse. For. Others.

I can’t get this out of my head. 5/n

It’s the same thing I thought almost exactly 11 years ago as we left the hospital after major trauma with our son.

If it’s this bad for us, how on earth can others survive? And why don’t our systems, our societies do better?

6/n

While some folks are concerned about post holiday shopping and get together being shit down, I just want them to grow up, simmer down, and take some responsibility for the fact that others have had it a lot worse for a lot longer.

And just have to deal with it. 7/n

So instead of ‘Happy New Year’, 2020 can take a long walk off a short plank.

But for me, so far, we’ve had no ER visit *this* holiday season(a few hours left), so my bar for ‘happy holidays’ has been met.

My wish for 2021, is as always, that we find some Peace & Joy. /end