“Access cannot just be the work of disabled people or we won’t be around someday. It has to be our collective effort in the world. So you all, if you choose to be our allies, it will be you all, who will keep me and my family going.”
This really is such a well-crafted, gut-punching piece. Thank you so much for the words and witness. I was telling my daughter (8 yo) that, in this political season, she needs to pay attention to other people, to how they are being treated, how they are feeling. I used this story as an example and teared up while telling it. Thanks for taking the time to share this.
This is really beautiful and important, as those before me said here. I will share this with the team of nurses I work with. I’ve always had this feeling as a nurse that, even if at first I don’t know how, I can very likely figure out a way to get someone a step closer if not all the way to the thing that they need, just by using my connections and reaching out and asking questions to the people that my patients don’t have access to. Nothing brings me greater satisfaction as a nurse than this kind of allyship. I’m just so sorry that it can be so difficult to find.
“Access cannot just be the work of disabled people or we won’t be around someday. It has to be our collective effort in the world. So you all, if you choose to be our allies, it will be you all, who will keep me and my family going.”
Thank you for writing and sharing this, Erin.
This really is such a well-crafted, gut-punching piece. Thank you so much for the words and witness. I was telling my daughter (8 yo) that, in this political season, she needs to pay attention to other people, to how they are being treated, how they are feeling. I used this story as an example and teared up while telling it. Thanks for taking the time to share this.
This is really beautiful and important, as those before me said here. I will share this with the team of nurses I work with. I’ve always had this feeling as a nurse that, even if at first I don’t know how, I can very likely figure out a way to get someone a step closer if not all the way to the thing that they need, just by using my connections and reaching out and asking questions to the people that my patients don’t have access to. Nothing brings me greater satisfaction as a nurse than this kind of allyship. I’m just so sorry that it can be so difficult to find.
Dr. Raffety, thank you as always for being so vulnerable in writing this!
I love this description of allyship. What a beautiful & important piece.
beautiful