Kendall Harvey is a wife and mother of two in Austin, Texas. She has been navigating life with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) since her diagnosis in 2013 at the age of 25. She worked in marketing before “retiring” to be a stay-at-home-mom. She is an optimistic warrior fighting for a better future free of FA. Until that day comes, she aspires to inspire others with her column by detailing personal life lessons about grit and grace. Kendall shares a message of hope despite disability.Life isn’t easy for anyone. Every person must trudge through hardship and struggles. Whether it’s a temporary sadness like illness or injury, seasonal hardships like a breakup or career setbacks, or even battling a life-long progressive illness such as…
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Part of living with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is battling relentless fatigue. If I feel energized at all, it is still a fraction of what I need to successfully tackle my day. Doing the simple, unavoidable, and…
Dear friends have asked me how I’m doing a few times over the past few weeks, specifically concerning my Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). Through their questions, I’ve realized that I’ve been so caught up in the busyness of parenting…
I recently had an unpleasant encounter with a stranger who was overflowing with pity regarding my disability. In the end, she questioned my abilities with what seemed to be judgment disguised as compassion. I had my 6-year-old daughter…
A recent struggle has been bothering me, even though, logically, it feels silly to get worked up about it. In the big scheme of things, it has no real impact on my life, yet it’s another reminder that I’m…
Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is a huge part of my life, like it or not. My disability due to FA is one of the first things people think or wonder about when they meet me. As much as…
Through my column, I’ve become aware of two habits: I focus a lot on what I can or can’t do because of Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) and its associated disability, and I watch a lot of children’s…
When I’m frustrated about my Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) disabilities, life has a cruel tendency to remind me how very not “normal” I am. I continually find myself in circumstances that highlight my problems or force me to be…
Most people know the Jackie DeShannon song that goes, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love/ It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” While I can think of a few more things…
Life with a progressively degenerative neurological disease like Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is a lot to handle. Not only is it incredibly frustrating and heartbreaking physically, but it is also relentlessly emotionally draining. In the decade that I’ve been…
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