My story begins over 20 years ago. I have two parts of my story but it all started June 3, 1994. Little did I know that one of the best days was soon going to turn into a night that would forever change my life. The first part tells my story of getting into a motorcycle accident and learning how to live a completely different life than I was used to. I was the outgoing cheerleader who turned into an angry girl that was now disabled. I barely graduated high school and only did because of an alternative high school. I beat the odds that were stacked against me and even made it to college and eventually became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I went on to get married and have two beautiful children all while continuing to deal with the chronic foot problems I faced from my accident.

The second part of my story is about having to choose to have my leg amputated 17 years later. This was supposed to be the happy ending part of the journey where I could get back to doing things I had dreamed of for 17 years. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out how it was supposed to and how at 34 years old I had a new disability that I now had to learn to live with.

I hope that by sharing my story with teenagers, parents, teachers, medical professionals, anyone struggling with chronic pain, grief, mental health or anyone that is willing to listen that I can encourage them to not give up. I want people to know that they can do things even if people tell you that you can’t. I want to encourage people to remember that you never know just how much you are influencing someone else. It could be a friend, family member, student, professionals, or even strangers. I also want people to learn from my story that your actions and the choices you make can end up not just affecting your life but the lives of others forever.

There are up days, down days, good days, bad days, amazing days and very low days. Each day though, I choose to get up out of bed rather than laying under the covers. I try not to feel sorry for myself and this is my journey of how I continue to live through it and still be a wife, mother, daughter, family member, friend, employee, etc. It’s the story of how I choose to keep going and doing the best I can to keep living life to its fullest rather than giving in and giving up. It’s about how finding my own spirituality, my support and myself have helped more than I could have ever realized. This is my story of Limb Laugh Love.

My dream and goal is to be able to share this story not only on my blog but also as a motivational speaker and in a book. If you or someone you know would be interested in hearing more I would love to talk to you more about it. There are no groups that are too big or too small.