My dad was in a tragic car accident when I was 12 and has been paralyzed from his chest down without the use of his fingers ever since. Dancing was one of the first things on his mind after his injury – he loved it, but it was too painful to think of dancing in a wheelchair. Unfortunately for me, that meant dancing with my dad became nothing but a memory.
I always knew how painful it was for him to leave dancing behind, but when I got engaged almost 17 years later, I had one request: a father-daughter dance. It wasn’t an easy sell, but he eventually agreed, and we killed it on the dance floor!
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Not only that, but that one dance broke through all the walls he had built up. He was transformed – he danced all night, he danced at another wedding two weeks after mine, and he has even taken dance lessons with my stepmom since.
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Sharing my dad’s story has already inspired others to dance, showing that you can have a disability AND a fun, fulfilling life. This is the core value of AbleThrive.com, my startup social enterprise that curates resources on living well with a disability so that it’s easier to find what we need to thrive.
Nothing should ever stop you from doing what you love.