ask me questions, i don't want pity.

i was hesitant to share this for all the world to see simply because i don't want pity. i'm me, ivy, and that's all i've ever been and all i'll ever be. but there is an element to me that is different from others that i've lived with since october 3, 1995. on that day, my father was taking me to school, third grade to be exact, and on the way there, we were involved in a horrible car accident.

my father died.

i was left, barely alive, with my right side paralyzed.

flash forward to now:

i can talk, i can eat, i can walk, i go to school, i drive, i have my own apartment 2 and a half hours from my family, etc. i've found ways to work through my disability. i refuse to let anything stand in my way. i can walk, but i have a slight limp and my right arm is completely paralyzed. through all that though, i firmly believe that i was left here for a purpose, and i'm so glad i was. every day i wake up and have to go through the day as i am, but i'm so glad i was given another opportunity at life. 

i have come along way. i had to learn to do everything over again, but i was determined. i'm kinda stubborn, for example, i hate when people tell me i can't do something. i will find a way to do it. 

when most people meet me, they don't even notice anything is wrong with me. i've lived this way for so long that i mostly don't notice it anymore. hardly do i ever feel sorry for myself. i have been blessed with family and friends to support me and pray for me, and i'm doing just fine. i've come along way, and i try and look for the good that has come from all this. i miss my father terribly and think of him every day, but i'm so happy for the time we had together. i have so many memories of just the little time i had with him on earth, and i know i will be with him again one day in heaven with our Heavenly Father.

you can ask me questions, but i don't want pity. this road i've traveled has been long and treacherous and it always will be, but i believe i have more to be thankful for than i do to be sorry about.

Philippians 4:11-13 "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."