ADA: Blessed Legislation

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People in wheelchairs form the letters ADA in commemoration of the
20th anniversary of the passing of the Americans With Disabilities Act
as Dodger Stadium sits in the background, Sunday, July 25, 2010,
in Los Angeles. They later set a Guinness World Record for the
highest number of people in wheelchairs moving in a line.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is hard to really communicate the impact of this wonderful legislation.. difficult because it is so very hard to see the world through the eyes of a disabled person. My first wife Ellen, who was blind for three years, put it this way - you can wear a blind fold for a week and you cannot really understand what it means to be blind because you know in your mind that the blindfold will eventually come off and you will see again. Not so for a blind person.

This month marks also marks the beginning of the fourth year of my wife Ann's disability. Three years ago she began a series of three neurological episodes that left her with a wheelchair disability. Each day Ann continues to amaze me with a resolve that humbles me and an attitude that wows me.

Life in a wheelchair is very difficult. But it would be so very much more difficult if it were not for the accessible bathrooms, mandated curb cuts and many other provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Our nation is blessed to have a government that rose up to help disabled persons.

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