In A Relationship…

But not the kind you’d think.

I’m in a relationship with my heating pad. My heating pad is constantly close by, and probably on right now.

• Turns around to check on couch — red light is on. I should go get it.
• Ah yes, now. Back to writing. Typing. Er, wait. Can’t put the heating pad under the computer, might as well just toss it out the window now. Desk is too far away.
• Heating pad in place. Pillow on top. Laptop on top of that. Now we can go.

Her

I’m Rachel, and I have cerebral palsy. I’ve been nervous to write about my condition in a public forum for years, for a number of reasons, but chief among them is that I look just like you.

Unless you know me (and even if you do), you need to look closely to discover if I’m not having a normal day. Save a little skip in my step (literally), I walk like you do. I eat like you do (though you wouldn’t know by my slight frame). I go to work, travel, dance, take public transit, go see plays, cook dinner, and hang out with my friends just like you do.

But it hurts a lot. It makes me tired, unstable, and drains energy faster than my iPhone. My specific form of CP is spastic diplegia. That means it affects two limbs. For me, that’s leg one and leg two. I have a touch of the palsy in my hands as…