I have heard people say if I was in your
position I would kill myself all right
right let's go we have had comments
where people will refer to mark as my
caregiver they don't necessarily assume
that he's my husband
things are a little bit different when
we travel and getting into unknown
territory when we go somewhere we've
never been that she breaks easy I do
always have a bit of a fear that was my
wheels are kind of flipping over take
your time obviously be pretty
disasterous for me well when you were
small my gosh I remember one well you
must have been maybe about five or six
months old all of a sudden I would hear
this scream and you were lying there and
you would shake and you had broken your
leg maybe you could see it was swelling
and that you had got a fracture and then
within the week it was fine
it which was good but then you broke the
other leg and then it healed in a week
and then you broke the other leg and I
think every week you just had it
differently so we could heal within a
week of an adult my name is Christine
Victoria and I was born with a rare
condition called osteogenesis imperfecta
but really what it means is brittle
bones but I've really completely lost
count of how many bones I've broken
sneezing as a kid would break a rib
I'm very small I think I'm about three
foot six and also my back is curved so I
have scoliosis so I'm full of metal I
have lots of rods to help strengthen my
bones I've had tons of surgeries when
she was first born a doctor came in and
his words were there's a problem with
your daughter
I thought you mean she's not gonna live
and he said no no she's gonna live she's
gonna live like that it's not a fatal
condition
she's got brittle bones granddad keeping
you on a pillow
hey not wanting to hold you being so
afraid it was a good thing that you had
a doctor like dr. Mosely
because when I was bringing you home
from the hospital I was asking him now
what am I gonna have to do what should I
do and he says just just treat her
normal just let her be just let her be
and I thought how can I treat her normal
when she's got such fragile brittle
bones and he says she's no matter what
happens she's going to break the more
you stopped her from doing things the
more difficult life is going to be for
her just let her be let her do things
and take the breaks as they come and
you took advice I sure did yeah every
time I break above when I mean it's
excruciating but the thing about
physical pain and the broken bones is
that it's always temporary and I always
yield oh my gosh neither one of you
could say no but it's funny to look at
you look considering the condition
during the time of her life aren't she's
out laughing now this is the way you use
them mark and I met online 14 years ago
I wasn't obvious from my profile that I
had a disability we decided that we
wanted to meet up in person and so I did
want to tell him and it's funny because
he told me afterwards like he never
actually fully believed that I did you
the wheelchair until he met me he
thought I was testing him to see if he
was shallow she told me online but she
is the wheelchair and I thought there's
no way Kristen is very independent I
don't think her condition has gotten in
the way of our dating life and I
wouldn't say that I go out of my way to
help her there's simple things filling
the teapot or taking the garbage out no
more than any other partner would bring
into a relationship he proposed to me
and we learned a dance together we took
lessons before our wedding day I really
appreciate Mark as a husband he is
someone that I can rely on a hundred
percent Kristen has a very positive
outlook on life even given her
disability it's kind of molded who she
is and even in our relationship it kind
of helps to shape who we are
[Applause]
I'm happy with who I am my disability
has shaped my life definitely and my
life good but it it's these other things
and society that that make it
challenging if I'm out with mark people
often refer to him as my brother or like
a blood relative you know rather than my
husband because unfortunately people
still just they don't see people with
disabilities people in wheelchairs
having these like meaningful
relationships or getting married
unfortunately don't feel like a concept
that people just don't put together
mark and I definitely have the travel
bug we we love to check out the world
and explore and I was younger not
something I necessarily thought that I
would be able to do so much because the
natural world is just not meant for a
wheelchair but we have found a way to
make it work we did a cooking class
right on the hilltops
of Tuscany making fresh pasta drinking
wine
we've been on gondolas and the canals of
Venice we've stayed just outside of the
marinelle volcano in Costa Rica she just
keeps planning more and more for us and
it seems to get more and more
adventurous every time whether it's
Thailand Africa love to travel together
hopefully soon I will have a
accessibility related travel blog I
think social media has made it that much
easier for the disabled community to
come together and share all of our
strategies and tips and resources so you
got so many muffins what are these not
this for yeah well I thought it would
make a good snack before we go out on a
hike lots of energy in here we're gonna
go and check out a new trail looks like
it could be a little bit challenging
challenging it can't be any more
challenging than the hikes I've seen you
taking well I went to Utah oh my gosh
they're a little bit more bold now we
feel like if we could handle some of
those other trails anything around here
we can do I think so I think if anything
people who don't know us in our daily
lives would affirm that Marc is the
primary caretaker of everything that's
not the case there are things that I do
there are things that he does just like
in any relationship this is a my
favorite game changer we'll just put it
on when we get outside cool I do always
have a bit of a fear that was my
wheelchair kind of flipping over cuz
that could obviously be pretty
disastrous for me let's go
I will likely break a good number of
bones so I do have to be a little bit
cautious but how do you feel confident
having Marc with me too I think a lot of
people might assume that I'm miserable
we'll say to me if I was in your
position I don't know how how I could do
it I think it is important to spread the
message that things aren't always you
know what we think they are it is
definitely not miserable living with
this condition
so that's safety I have had a lot of
fractures I have spent a lot of time in
hospital but if anything that's just
given me a unique perspective on life
take your time
Burke sneezy and that there's certain
limitations but we like to push the
limits together when people talk to me
and congratulate me on looking past
Christmas disability I think that
they're kind of missing the point it's
not that it's to see past a disability
that you're accepting somebody for who
they are so pretty over here yeah it was
worth coming down there I'm definitely
proud of where I am things that I've
wanted to achieve I feel like I have I'm
really happy that I've met such a great
man and that I have mark in my life I
feel a lot more traveling in our future
there are many more places on our bucket
list
[Music]
you