Articles by Amy Shinneman

Damaging assumptions

If you have a disability or any other chronic medical diagnosis, the waiting rooms of doctor’s offices can start to feel like your second home. After 50 years, it is…

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One year together

I met you one year ago, delivered by a kind stranger with my oldest son by my side. I reluctantly accepted your presence in my home. I felt sadness. Once…


Running Berlin, part 2

Last I left off, we had just settled in for a very mentally taxing 26.2 miles (or 42.195 kilometers there) running the streets of Berlin, with about 58,000 other runners….


Running Berlin, part 1

Be flexible. A phrase I would silently repeat hundreds of times as we headed overseas to Berlin, Germany. This is where my husband and I would run our first overseas…


Dear younger me

Many years ago, my mom gave me the book titled Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (and It’s All Small Stuff) by Richard Carlson. I am sure many of you have…


A humiliating encounter

Sometimes, our minds create stories that we believe will happen. Personally speaking, I waste a lot of time worrying about things that never happen, yet I often cannot help myself…


Master of planning

I would call myself a master planner. I do not mean at planning big events, outings, or vacations. I mean I am a daily master planner. As a disabled person,…


An unexpected gift

Christmas morning, 1979, 1980 – I do not remember for sure. I could not wait to wake up to the gift I had asked for. I just knew my roller…


Nostalgiaholic

I love going to the movies. Anyone else? It is an instant dopamine boost. It is dim, comfortable, I am warm, wrapped up in a few layers, and eating a…


Adapt to find your passion

I was first introduced to exercise when I was young through the form of swimming. It was a form of exercise that doctors told my parents would be safe and…