We take disability access for granted
Girard says he will be staying at Syracuse
The Front Page
Evening Update
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
By Ken Tingley
After suffering a seizure and spending nearly a month in the hospital in 2012, my 84-year-old mother was relegated to a wheelchair.
For the next year, we took her to restaurants, shopping and school functions so she could see her grandson in concerts, plays and sporting events.
We took for granted things we had never needed before like handicapped parking spaces, ramps into public facilities, bathroom stalls that accommodate a wheelchair and curb cuts that allowed us to easily roll my mother’s wheelchair onto the sidewalk from the road.
This allowed us to easily make her part of our regular outings.
But as a healthy middle-aged man, I never stopped to consider how that all happened until I watched “Crip Camp” on Netflix the other night.
What starts as a feel-good story about disabled teens finding they are not alone, leads to a 1970s movement of disabled activists demanding that they be given the same freedoms as other Americans.
It culminated in a 12-day sit-in at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the government caving to their demands. It led to the disabled access in public buildings that we take for granted these days and so many need to live a regular life.
This group of wheelchair-bound activists changed the world and made it a little easier to ensure my mother was part of my world.
Girard staying
After three players announced that they were considering transferring to another college Syracuse fans weighed in with some ugly comments about long-time coach Jim Boeheim and Glens Falls’ own Joe Girard.
That’s what life is like in big-time basketball where all that matters is winning to many.
Girard confirmed with syracuse.com that he was coming back next season after it was learned his main competition for playing time at point guard, Kadary Richmond, said he was transferring.
That may be good for Girard’s playing time next year, unless of course another point guard transfers to Syracuse.
Changing perspectives
After writing about Roy McDonald’s vote on same-sex marriage 10 years ago, one reader let me know how his own views had changed over the years:
“Growing up in a small north New Jersey town in the 1940’s we never came in contact with a gay person that we knew of. Continuing into adulthood I carried the beliefs that a gay lifestyle was not only wrong but perhaps evil. And same sex marriage was a conflict of God’s laws. In the 2000s, I became acquainted with a man and we became friends. I came to respect, admire, and continue to support our friendship strongly. My friend was in his early 50s when he told me he was so happy that he was getting married. I joined him in celebrating this announcement. Imagine how I cringed when he told me he was marrying another man. It shocked my core from head to toes and I said many nasty things about this - all to myself. The more I thought about it - his happiness, his excitement, and the respect I had for this friend - I made the argument with myself many times, taking both sides. I finally came to the conclusion: How can this be wrong when there is so much happiness involved with these two men? I was invited to the wedding, supplied gifts, love, and continued happiness. They have been married for 10 years now and couldn’t be happier. This is the revelation that changed a life long belief for me and I’m happier for it.”
