Harriet Johnson-Inspiring

I almost wish I had not seen the photo of the author prior to reading her essay. Only at a certain point in reading do you get the visual description of her disability; up until then all you can decipher is that a very eloquent, humerous, and intelligent woman wrote the article. In reading, I couldn’t help but admire how brave and strong willed a woman Johnson must be-to attend these lectures questioning her very existence, to “dining with the devil”, and even to eventually accept him as a kind man. Its apparent she has already reached a maturity and completeness within herself that I believe both Walker and Grealy had only hoped to obtain.

She in no way shyed away from saying all that she needed to. At some points, I almost felt awkward reading her writing of such personally intimate details of her life. From commenting on how she “roll[s] around the corner”, how she “sit[s] where [shes] parked” even to mentioning her being “28 inches wide” , to talking about the discomforting things that happen to her on a daily basis- dropping her fork, always needing to rerroute in order to avoid stairs, her physical therapy, even her difficulties in using public restrooms- She is so accepting, honest, and down to earth about her disability that by the time I finish reading, I in no way feel bad, or any sort of discriminating emotion towards her. She doesn’t take herself so seriously, meaning that in a good way. After reading her essay I have a greater understanding of what life is like in those shoes/ wheels, and how, as she puts it, “the presence or absence of a disability doesn’t predict quality of life.”