The day I was told that I would never walk again, made me feel like that was not real. I never accepted that being told to me for the first two months. As time went on, I realized that I would never walk again and then depression hit me hard. I cried every day for a straight year! I didn’t want to do the things I once enjoyed like hunting, fishing and or going out for jogs. I felt like the things I once enjoyed and could do was no longer possible for me.

They tell you after you become paralyzed that you can still enjoy the things you did but just differently. I always question still how do you run differently? You can’t. What you can do though is get your butt outside and push yourself. Your arms and shoulders will get tired, but you are outside. I didn’t start to get over my depression till I moved to Texas. I left Idaho, where I lived and where my car crash happened. I feel like I will never want to return to the mountains because it’s a daily reminder of the things I once enjoyed that I won’t get back. When I lived in the mountains, I loved to hike, go places off trails. I loved to rock climb in the mountains and camp in some of the most beautiful places that you can’t access by a vehicle. Being wheelchair bound does put limits on things you can do for sure! Unless you have someone to help hike you up there, you will struggle to get there yourself.

Why Texas? Why did I find me in Texas? Well, I wanted to open myself up to new opportunities after my life changing accident. I wanted to do things I have never done before. Heck, I wanted to explore the side of me that never got to see the south or how southern living is. I was born in the West and lived in the Mountains all my life. I needed the beach, the flat lands, and some damn good food in my life. When I moved to Texas, I did not plan on meeting a big group of people like me! I was happy, to see others and girls that are outdoorsy like me, let alone in a chair. So, Texas gave me warm weather, good food and friendships that made me feel blessed. I don’t think wheelchairs and snow get along, especially when you live in an area that gets lots of snow, like I did. This is another huge reason why I choose to live in the warm south. I am okay, with hot summers and mild winters, just put me by some water and I am good.

This is how I overcame the first wave of depression; I realized that I could live a happy life and heck a better life doing things I enjoyed still. Texas offers hunts that people in wheelchairs can do, I was new to this kind of hunting, I found more places that had wheelchair accessible fishing. Have I mentioned that being in a place that is flat, is so much better on your shoulders. I could talk for days about why I love Texas. I want those out in the world that read this to know life will get better. If you are in a place where family treats you differently, you have lost friends from your accident, and you don’t want to get out bed anymore. Trust me, I know what it feels like to ask why I am here. That’s when you pack your bags and go on an adventure! or do what I did, load your car up and move, I have never been more scared but I wasn’t about to live my life in a place that I felt trapped. Make the best of your situation and find yourself. You only live one life! If you die tomorrow, did you live and do all the things you wanted to do? I know I didn’t, and that is why I got out of that small town of Blackfoot, Idaho and moved. Keep your head up and find that happiness.