Having a sense of humor...

Anyone who knows me, or who has heard me speak, knows what a sense of humor I have.  I just have never been one who complains or dwells in self pity.

I love whenever I am behind someone buying cigarettes.  I absolutely LOVE the look on their face when I mention cigarettes can stunt your growth, and they turn around to see who said that.  They, and everyone else in line, not only have a good laugh, but they get to see a Little Person in a positive light...even sharing how much I brightened their day.  By the way, I have never smoked, so I don't know if it's really true smoking stunts ones' growth or not.😄

Anyway, one day when people in an elevator were discussing concern about the possibility of 3-4 inches of snow in the forecast, I said, "As long as it doesn't get over 3 feet, I will be okay."  After they fell over laughing, they told me how I made their day.  One even said I made her realize how much people like me are like everyone else.  Ka-CHING!

One of the advantages of being a Little Person, is that I am remembered.  A few months after the funny, inspiring elevator moment, I was in the grocery store.  A man had been rudely following me trying to get a picture of me on his cellphone.  Suddenly, I whipped my cellphone out, and said to him, "Let me first take a picture of YOU being disrespectful."  All of a sudden a lady close by, whipped out her cellphone too, and told the man, "And I want to get your picture too, of you being disrespectful to this lady."  Then two other men, and a lady whipped out their cellphones, saying the same thing!  

The perpetrator closed his phone and walked away in shame.

It turned out, the lady who first whipped her phone out after me, was in the elevator the day I humorously talked about the snow (small world!😂).  Because of that connection in the elevator, she suddenly joined me in confronting the rude man.

One of the men who whipped out his cellphone with us against the perpetrator, said to us all, how he had come to the store to get groceries, but he was going away with so much more.

Soon after that, two people were killed in the nation due to rage incidents, and that is when I decided it would be safer not to confront these people anymore.

Nevertheless, I carry with me the treasure of what happened in the grocery store that day, all because I shared my humor in the elevator one day... 

That which doesn't break us, makes us stronger...

There is a saying, "That which doesn't break us, makes us stronger."  

I recently learned I have somehow managed to lose TWO INCHES in height during the past decade.  TWO INCHES!  This is serious.  For when one is THIS short to begin with, every inch matters.😏  I had a few moments where this really affected me.  Actually, I was surprised by how much this affected me at all, especially in light of what I am already dealing with that is far more serious.

Please bear with me...in today's blog I will touch on exactly what I am living with.  Due to the trauma of previous spine surgeries, in 1990 at Johns-Hopkins I was diagnosed with a very painful severe spinal cord inflammation disease known as arachnoiditis.  Nothing can be done for it, as the inflammation is within the spinal cord, and it is steadily worsening.  The arachnoiditis began in my lumbar area, and has moved up my spinal cord.

It is now weakening my legs, severely affected my digestive tract, and urinary tract.  Both my colon and bladder now barely function.  As far as the colon, I am on a very expensive new drug that basically jump starts it enough, so it may empty each day.  Years ago I had to learn how to catheterize my bladder anyway, so that helps.  But I live with terrible pain, and battle intense nausea...both worsening.

So I have been told all things are only going to get worse.  Not fun.  Yet I will keep on as I always have, by plunging forth, embracing faith and gratitude.  You may wonder, "Gratitude?!!"  Gratitude.  Despite all my challenges along the way, I have been all over this country.  I have owned seven horses, and soared across fields on them.  Then I got to do amazing things with my art, Theatre, and piano.  Have many friends...have laughed a LOT, can still walk, talk, hear, see, and have a roof over my head with cats.  There are always things to be grateful for in our lives.

"That which doesn't break us, makes us stronger," my dear ones.  Embrace courage and gratitude.

Flying without wings...

Did you know that every three fourths of each stride a galloping horse makes is spent in the air?  Three fourths!  I have always cherished the quote, "When God created the horse, He said, 'And thou shalt fly without wings.'"

This is why galloping across the fields for me, was flying.

In all the decades I owned horses, I only ever had two injury accidents, which were not their fault.  Or mine.

The first involved flying across a field on my horse Bashum.  We apparently disturbed these huge grasshoppers, and one suddenly flew into Bashum's eye.  He stumbled west, and I flew east...with my tailbone connecting with the ground first.  We were a LONG way from the barn phone and my car.  

Thankfully, we were near a fallen tree I managed to climb on.  We made it to the barn.  Bashum's eye was torn in the corner, so I called the vet to come.  Then I had to leave, driving myself to the ER.  I feared two things:  that I injured my spine, and/or my dear orthopaedic surgeon was going to kill me.

He fell over laughing.  

It turned out I only fractured my tailbone.  In two places.  

Bashum's eye had to be treated with medicine, but all was fine there too.

The other injury involved my horse Selah.  It was summer.  I was barefoot.  In order for a Little Person like myself, to put a bridle on a horse, I had to lean into her to get the head strap over her ears.  Summer means flies.  At the exact moment I was leaning into Selah to do the head strap, she raised her hoof to knock away a fly.

Only when she put her hoof back down, it was ON MY FOOT.  She couldn't know it, so I had to push her off, but because of the position we were both in, she TWISTED off my foot.  Then I did what any respectable owner would do...I rode her.  Thirty minutes later I looked down at my foot.  By then it was three times its' size and every color.  Oops.

I rode Selah to my car, fed her, then drove myself to the ER.  Again, my dear orthopaedic surgeon fell over laughing.

I was lucky.  Because I was barefoot, and Selah didn't have shoes, everything was only severely bruised...not crushed.

To this day though, I proudly have Selah's clear hoofprint on my right foot.

In five decades these were my only injury accidents.  And not their fault!😄

That I was so blessed to fly without wings for many years, I had been given a gift worth the price of a very bent tailbone, and a hoof print scar on my right foot forever.

How a Little Person gets on a horse...

One of the many things I am asked is, "How do you get on your horse?"  Usually followed by, "How do you STAY on?"  I tried saddles, but I had more trouble staying on with a saddle, both English and Western, than I ever did riding bareback.  With short legs, and all the leather, even with stirrups, when I gripped, I usually popped up like a cork, with my horse looking at me like I was crazy.  Besides, I like to feel at one when riding my horses, which I do riding bareback.  And I stay on.

So back to how I GET on.  I had such a bond with all my horses, they understood the fact that when it came time for me to get on, they needed to stand next to something.  Usually, I would lead them next to my car, climb on the hood of the car, then get on.  But horses cannot always be depended upon to stand perfectly still for more than ten seconds, so I had to act fast.  Sometimes with hilarious results.  I cannot begin to tell you how many times I would propelle myself just a bit too hard and go flying over them to the ground, and get that crazy look. 

If not the car hood, I would use fallen trees, or climb on a fence, or if lucky an actual mounting block.

Dismounting was always easier.  Usually I would slide off and drop to the ground, mostly on my feet...often unceremoniously on my rear.  Again, with 
that crazy look.

Horses sometimes are unpredictable.  Sometimes they suddenly stop unexpectedly.  When this happened, I would go headfirst sliding down their neck, if I was lucky.  Occasionally, my taking to the air a bit before reaching the ground with aplomb could occur.

Sooo, now you know how a Little Person got on her horses, and how she also "got off" of them too.

For my dear readers...

First, words cannot begin to express how thrilled I am I have readers!😄  

This is something I had been asked to do for years.  I used to do speaking engagements, and people say I am inspiring and funny.  So a little over a 
week ago here, I finally took a deep breath, plunging forth as I tend to 
do.😮

My health is deteriorating so if ever I do this, I must do it now.

I want to take the next step, so I may share my art, and photographs of my horses and myself here.  No one has commented yet (which may be a good thing?!!😌), and it would help me tremendously to briefly know if you like my pieces so far...as long as there are no rude comments, since I get so much of that anyway.😉  If you want to, you may leave a comment by clicking on the orange words, "post a comment" at the bottom of each piece I post.

Again, that I have readers at all, means more than words can express.  Thank you for being on this journey with me.

I would love to hear from you,

Adelaide

The deeper the sorrow the more joy we attain...

The deeper that sorrow carves into our soul, the more joy we may attain. 
                                                                     -Kahlil Gibran

Now that I plunged in and touched on what my childhood was like regarding two parents with a lot of problems, I will share how Sadie, a Shetland pony came into my life.

I am only going to touch on this once here.  Besides my parents fighting all the time, my father could get violent and beat me for no reason.  Then, when he would see the wounds the next day, he would feel horrible and try to make up for it.  One time when the wounds were especially bad, he felt so terrible, he finally took me to see the man down the road who raised Shetland ponies that I had been begging for.  We had over an acre of land, and were allowed a horse.  Not the best way to have your lifelong dream finally come true, but there it was.

Sadie set me free.  There were all kinds of trails and great places to ride back then and we galloped across them all.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog, NO ONE ever ridiculed me or was mean when I was on my horses.  They were my separate peace.

I took care of Sadie before and after school.  And I babysat, using the money to buy her feed, hay, and whatever else was needed.  With Sadie, I could escape what was happening at home and did we ever.

There was a dusty show ring a few miles from where we lived, called The Mustang Show Ring...with shows each summer weekend at night.  I would ride Sadie to the Show Ring, and compete in Halter Classes, The Pony 
Flat Race, Bareback Class, and whatever else we could be in.  During a three year period we won numerous trophies, and hundreds of ribbons.  Being a Little Person never mattered.  And that, was sweet, oh so sweet.

The deeper that sorrow carves into our soul, the more joy we DO indeed attain.

Hold fast to your dreams.

Hold fast to your dreams...

Hold fast to your dreams,
For if dreams die,
Life is a broken winged bird
That cannot fly.

              -Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Langston Hughes was a beloved African American poet and writer from the Harlem Renaissance to his death in 1967.  I discovered him through the above poem, when I was fourteen.  And I needed him.  I was struggling with what life could hold for someone like me.

My home life as a child was a very unstable one due to alcoholism and the insecurities my parents had with the dwarfism.  This was many years before the Internet and all they were told about the dwarfism when I was a baby 
is I would be perfect for the circus.  When as a child all I could see of those like me were The Munchkins, and the actor Michael Dunn, who was well known for his role on Wild Wild West, it is very isolating.  But they were all I had to identify with. 

This didn't stop me from having friends though, or letting my height challenge keep me from doing what everyone else was doing.  I was determined it wouldn't.  However, outside my circle of friends, I had to deal with the insidious constant ridicule and meanness of both kids and adults.  With little help from my parents.

Then one day I came across the poem above.  I found all I could on Mr. Hughes.  And in so doing, I learned in great depth the terrible discrimination African Americans had faced and were enduring.  All this coinciding with the events of the Civil Rights movement and demonstrations of the 1950's and 1960's.  I read all I could about all of the lives of African Americans...and somehow, I felt less alone.  Our challenges were different, and yet, the same.

So in feeling less alone, I held fast to my dreams, and my determination to fly.

Hold fast to your dreams, my friends.