An exciting week
This has been an exciting week. With the turn of the year, and the return of notifications in my email feed, something magical seems to be happening in my ‘to do’ list. Yes, there is still lots to fix and sort and tidy at home, but I’m also getting on with my own work, reaching out and making new connections.
I am in touch with Catriona Kirkpatrick, Head of Development at ‘Engender’ an advocacy organisation with a feminist agenda based in Edinburgh that collects and collates data, reporting and advocating on matters affecting women.
I am in equal parts relieved and dismayed to read Engender’s report, “Our lives, Our bodies” (2018) which explores the stark realities that disabled women still face when deciding their personal and reproductive choices. Of course, this is a subject very close to home, but reading the report several times, I am thoughtful, remembering how painful my life used to be and how much effort has brought me to this point. Telling the truth about our lives is difficult; just as hard is the realisation that often, improvements happen too slowly for many women. At the same time, I am relieved to be reminded that advocacy can bring knowledge, respect and inclusion to a wider audience. Change happens slowly, but it happens, one day at a time.
This week, “Trapped” also features as ‘Book of the Week’ with the Cerebral Palsy Research Network (CPRN), based in Greenville, SC, US. I’m delighted it is featured, and I hope it reaches new readers, helping those who do find it, to realise they are not alone.
Finally, as part of International Women’s Day – 8th March 2022 – I’m taking part in a panel discussion in Edinburgh. More details to follow. Watch this space!
Thanks for reading.
Please share:
February 3, 2022 @ 3:03 pm
My word – an exciting week indeed. Many congratulations on the book news that’s really wonderful. I hope you do find many more readers. It’s lovely to read about someone having good things happening when there is so much hard stuff going on. Really pleased for you. x
February 3, 2022 @ 4:14 pm
Thank you so much! 😀 We have to do what we can, in our own little corners. Come to think of it… there not a hymn about that? “You in your small corner, and I in mine…” Bless you! Your kindness illuminates many of my best writing intentions.
February 5, 2022 @ 10:01 pm
What a ton of good news, Fran! I’m especially stoked by the publicity “Trapped” is getting here in the USA. I’m also eager to read Engender’s report. Most of the world hasn’t a clue about realities that face women with disabilities. Cheers and hugs!
Elouise
February 6, 2022 @ 12:27 pm
Dear Elouise,
How wonderful to see you here! Thank you for popping in. If you’d like a virtual copy of the report, I can send it to you. Meanwhile, I hope you are having a good weekend and restful Sunday. Lunch in the oven brings memories of Christmas..! We have a lot to be grateful for, don’t we?! All the best, always,
Fran xxx
April 3, 2022 @ 5:23 pm
Hi, Fran! I would love to have a virtual copy of the report! Thank you for the offer. I’ve been rather subdued these last several months. Still reckoning with peripheral neuropathy (caused by osteoporosis in my lower spine). Your life-long determination to live with your special challenges gives me comfort and hope for each day. Blessings, hugs, and cheers!
Elouise
April 4, 2022 @ 8:12 am
Hi Elouise,
I’ll send a virtual copy of the report, or you can find it at engender.org.uk. Peripheral neuropathy, apart from the number of its syllables, sounds rather complicated and delicate, so I hope you’ve found a way to manage it. Oh, well, some people call it determination, others call it sheer stubborn-ness, but it helps when I remember that Spirit can see farther ahead than me on the road, though I’m still learning to listen to what I’m told. It sometimes feels like a battle though, I agree.
Bless you, always,
Fran XOXOX
February 9, 2022 @ 9:19 pm
What fantastic news about trapped, Fran. As you know I loved your book and I hope it reaches a much wider audience now. Engender’s report sounds both encouraging and depressing, though, but as you say, change does and is coming slowly.
February 10, 2022 @ 11:10 am
Thank you so much, Val! Yes, a wonderful and most welcome surprise! 😀 Change comes through awareness, and also through our decisions to do the best we can. It’s not always easy, but I do think that we have many wonderful gifts in an often imperfect world, so it’s good to enjoy them and be grateful. That’s how I see things today, at any rate. 😀
March 1, 2022 @ 6:36 am
I am not sure if my comment will be appreciated but I will continue anyway. My mother had a very bad car accident and was wheelchair bound for more than half her life. It was nice for her and it made life for the rest of the family – husband and three children – quite difficult. But it gave to all of her children an amazing understanding of the fact that she was still always the same mother she had always been and we – all five of us – in our own ways have grown old having a rather unique attitude toward people with disability. I am not being patronising, I hope, when I say that I have been usually blind to wheelchairs and crutches.
And I am also delighted that I have been able to recommend “Trapped” to quite a few people. Thank you Fran for the tremendous influence your life and your book have had.
March 1, 2022 @ 2:49 pm
Dear John,
I hope you won’t mind me saying that you are very kind to comment and to share your view of your mother’s accident. She wanted, I am sure, nothing more than to be treated as she always had been, and I’m sure you all did that; which must have been a tremendous relief. After such a major derailment, it’s a real blessing when life can go on as much as possible like before. None of us is perfect, to be sure, and though your mother must have longed, at times, to jump up and do stuff quickly, she will simply have done her best, as we all do.
You are never patronising – the very idea! – instead you strike me as friendly and approachable, with lots of good ideas and energy for enjoying life. Thank you for sharing all your stories and photos on line – they are wonderful! – and thanks ever so much for recommending my book to others. I’m glad you found it a good read. 🙂 Bless you, always.