You'll have to forgive any nature of this piece that you find lacking, for this was a product of happenstance. Keeping that in mind, I'll proceed to tell you about a very charming, eloquent and thoughtful person that I met in September(?) named Annie. However, I feel in order to I'll preface the events in order to better contextualize. We were in town for the weekend this past September for the satisfaction of seeing a touring band play at the Metro. We utilized the ingenuity of the couchsurfing project and, subsequently, were warmly received by Steve and his humble abode. Not only were we greeted by an awesome doggy upon arrival, but also by Steve's
friend, Annie.
From the moment we arrived the whole of us engaged in unique and truly interesting conversation. Annie didn't wear her disability on her sleeve, yet she never shied away from any regarding topic. While I have met, even worked alongside, many persons of all walks of life, it was mainly due to circumstances that required our full focus to be elsewhere (i.e. work, what have you.) My experience with Annie was the first of its kind, because our circumstances existed purely for the sake of amiable introduction and ice breaking conversation.
Annie opened my eyes to a lot by her perspective and talking about herself and her amazing life. I was previously unaware of first-hand portrayals of the daily grind that is living with a disability. This is probably because my lack of prior heart to hearts with a person of disability. It was a pleasure and eye opener to have had the opportunity to share life stories with Annie. She is impressive in both mind and heart. I'm grateful to couchsurfing and couchsurferslike Steve because of this very reason.
A good memory of mine was of our conversation about social activism, preceded by a comment Annie had made saying she couldn't see the show with us because of the venue's lack of disability access. We were disappointed by this for two reasons: one, in our
hometown (Louisville, KY.-represent!) most places meet protocol and thus have legit access; and two, because my group of friends and I were looking forward to bonding with our hosts and company. I asked Annie if she encounters that on a regular and she responded by telling us about her success in a similar situation. I don't remember the details, but from what I can recall it had to do with implementing change regarding a curb or something along those lines by making it more accessible. (Like I said earlier, forgive any haze. It is what it is). I think that story was pretty awesome and heart warming.
So that about sums up my opinion of Annie's character. In short, she opened my eyes and taught me brave newthings. I was mostly in love with her smile.
P.S. I will be up your way sometime in December. Leave me a contact if you want to get in touch. If not I'll give you a heads up beforehand.
Peace and love,
joejoe
