Struggling with Serendipity

My daughter, 14, is in the passenger seat when I fall asleep at the wheel. As the car flips across a dark Ohio field, Beth’s spinal cord rips, along with my identity as a mom. Unable to move on shards of glass, she reassures me that everything will be OK.

A lifelong disability advocate—even before Beth’s injury—I lose myself in guilt and depression. My shy but determined teenager battles the limits of quadriplegia. Beth carries us forward, since she is the emotionally stable one. Where she leads, I follow.

In the pool for physical therapy, Beth gradually learns how to float. She finds freedom in the water when movement on land is grueling. Barely able to swim the backstroke, she decides to master the forward freestyle with hands that don’t work, weak arms, and useless legs. She also sets her sights on independence. Against all odds.

Extraordinary events domino when Beth moves into a freshman dorm at Harvard, far away from our small Ohio town. My daughter attains what she calls her greatest achievement: becoming independent. A rare feat for quads.

Beth joins the varsity Harvard Women’s Swimming and Diving team as the first with a visible disability. We travel around the world as she competes on the U.S. Paralympic National Team for five years and sets 14 American Records.

Beth’s confidence blooms as all roads lead to China and the end of an era that transforms us. Guilt no longer defines me. An active volunteer, she travels with her fiancé and loves her life as a health policy lawyer in Washington, DC. As Beth told me years ago, everything will be OK. She was right.

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai8ExXs2Kds&t=6s” align=”center” thumbnail=”https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ai8ExXs2Kds/0.jpg” title=”Struggling with Serendipity – A Parent Co. Story” description=”In 2000, Elizabeth Kolbe suffered a C6-7 spinal cord injury when her and her mother, Cindy, were in a car accident. With the help of her family and friends, Beth would go on to accomplish extraordinary things, including swimming in the Paralympics and for the Harvard College Women’s Swimming Team. Elizabeth works as a lawyer in Washington, DC. Follow their inspiring story of perseverance and teamwork.” upload_date=”2017-06-22″ duration=”5M49S” /]

Previously posted: https://www.parent.com/breathing-lessons-how-my-paralyzed-daughter-taught-me-to-stay-afloat/