A Quiet Roar by Heidi Redl

Author:Heidi Redl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Multiple sclerosis, Patients, Canada, Biography, Memoir
ISBN: 9781987915709
Publisher: Caitlin Press
Published: 2020-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

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Back in 2009, Ben was twenty-one, Sam nineteen, and Lexie seventeen, and I could hardly believe how independent they were. Time has a way of marching on, regardless of how we view it and how we endure our own struggles. Stubbornness drove me even more than fatigue in the first years of dealing with MS. I decided I wanted a paying job and to get myself out of the house and off the ranch when the children no longer needed me. As the disease slowly shackled my abilities to move around freely, coincidentally, it progressed in time with my children growing more independent and needing me less. In fact, one by one they were slowly growing into adulthood and leaving home. Ben had already left and was studying engineering at the University of Alberta. Sam was preparing himself to follow in his brother’s footsteps and Lexie was eyeing up the bright light of graduation with great anticipation.

Finding work in the real world as a retired stay-at-home mom is difficult enough, but it is nearly impossible as a handicapped person. It takes a special employer to hire a disabled person and to have faith that the person will work out for the best. But it’s been well-documented that any prejudice against disabled workers is unfounded. According to a recent article in the Chronicle Herald, and in a host of other studies and papers, handicapped people usually prove to be very good employees, whether that handicap is mental or physical.

After looking for a job for several months, I found a job at the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce. Fortunately, the place was managed by a woman I’d known for years, whose daughter also struggles with MS. Claudia was not only quick to overlook my handicap, she was also quick to hire me. It didn’t hurt that I knew her from years past and had even briefly taught her German in a night school course. Claudia knew me pre-MS and didn’t judge the way I walked or my tired appearance. I have always appreciated her faith and confidence in me. I worked at the Chamber of Commerce Tourism Information Centre, and it was, for the most part, interesting work. It was strange to go back into the work force after being at home raising the kids. I sometimes found it quite frustrating to be working with nineteen-year-olds but, to be fair, we had the same skill set when it came to the job. Life experience doesn’t count for much when you’re applying for jobs outside of the house. Nevertheless, when the tourist season got busy and we had people lined up at the counter to speak to a visitor counsellor, the line-ups were formed in front of me. I wonder if folks naturally gravitate to people with life experience when they want to be sure they’re getting competent answers. That’s unfair to the nineteen-year-olds who could answer questions about our region as well as I could—then again, maybe they didn’t know the region as well as I did.

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