Yesterday I attended the opening reception of an exhibit of the art of nine artists. What the nine have in common is that they all have a physical and/or mental disability that makes it very hard to do things that the rest of us take for granted.

The youngest artist is in his early twenties. He is wheelchair bound and has limited mobility in his arms and hands. Currently medicine has no cure for his disabilities.

For him art is something that stimulates his mind. Art makes life
more interesting. Looking at him you can imagine what he’d look like as
a physically fit young man. If life hadn’t dealt him this blow, he
might have been a football player or a wrestler. He is a big strapping
young man with a gentle smile.

Another is a young Amish woman with a genetically acquired
disability. According to her culture, she shouldn’t have been attending
the Sunday opening reception but she did anyway. She is wheelchair
bound and has limited ability to move her hands. Her speaking ability
is impaired. It is difficult to understand her when she talks but it
isn’t hard to tell when she is happy. She laughs easily and expresses
such joy. She has been creating art since she was a girl. She is the
first of her family to have finished high school. She has won awards
for her art and one of her pieces was sold for several hundred dollars
at a fundraising auction.

Only two of the artists were able to get to the opening reception of
their own exhibit due to the difficulty of getting transportation for
them in wheelchairs.

I am humbled whenever I meet these artists.

Most of us are so very lucky to be able to live an ordinary life.

Snicks