00:09My chosen family knows the real me. They understand my needs, my pain, what I love
00:17and why I do the things that I do. These are people that I have chosen as a
00:22family as an adult versus the people that I've grown up with. So they know me
00:26and they love me for who I am. You have the kind of relationship with them where
00:32they feel comfortable and it's an atmosphere of love and support.
00:43I've been in a wheelchair since I was six. I felt lonely as a child. I couldn't see
00:48anyone in the world out there to look up to that was like me. I was offered a
00:53fashion internship in London. That's where I met Brooke. Brooke was one of
00:57the first able-bodied people who really made an effort to make me feel
01:00comfortable and accepted. Before I met Bri I hadn't known anyone in a chair. I was
01:06opened up to this whole new world of issues with accessibility because like
01:10for me growing up everything was always accessible to me. I became much more
01:15aware of how our world is catered to able-bodied people. I met my sisters Lucy
01:22and Gigi at a wheelchair dance conference. We all bring something special to each
01:29other. We come from different places and different experiences. I didn't know what
01:34I was missing until I had our friendship but now that I have it it's like I can't
01:39imagine not having that. Guys this looks so good. It really does and I'm so
01:46excited for you guys to try the Leamingtons. That's an Australian classic and it
01:52makes me feel at home. Do you miss being at home? Yeah I mean you know what it's
01:57like. Yeah it's hard being away from my family in Alaska. It makes it a lot easier
02:01that I have you guys here. Me and Bri were talking the other day and she read
02:05somewhere that it takes seven years to have a forever friend right? Is that what
02:09you're saying? And like we have a year? We have a year left I think before we're
02:14forever friends. You all have such amazing like individual characteristics. We kind of
02:20blend nicely together. I think we like need each other. Gigi is 100% like the
02:27go-to for any information. She's the Google, the doctor, the mama. The mama of the group. I feel
02:34like I got to show you guys like some some things in the city like especially
02:37the subway or like. Subway queen. You literally helped us learn how to make this
02:43city accessible in a way that you can't find anywhere else. Through your lived
02:49experience this city became more livable for us. I think the world if they saw
02:54people with disabilities more just as like treated us just like other people.
02:58Sounds so simple and it's like what you know. For some reason a hard concept. Yeah but for some, exactly.
03:04Exactly. Exactly. That's why you're an honorary wheelie Brooke. I appreciate it.
03:09I think if disability was celebrated and welcomed in the same way that so many
03:15other things about people are welcomed then we wouldn't be treated in a lot of
03:21the ways that we are treated. People don't always realize that we're not just
03:25okay with it but we have pride and we celebrate. Like this is exactly like it
03:32genuinely is a really high compliment to say that Brooke's an honorary wheelie.
03:37We're not ashamed of it.
03:41Dance really is when I'm fully in my body in a way that people don't think I
03:46necessarily can be. Even though it may look different than people imagine it to
03:53look, people with disabilities still can dance and still can be fun and cool and
03:58sexy and so when I'm dancing I think about all the limitations I'm breaking and I'm
04:04using my chair in that movement. My chair is not holding me back. It's a part of my
04:08freedom.
04:10I don't think disabled is a bad word. We may do things differently. We may have our
04:17own ways of communicating or getting around the world or our own ways of
04:22thinking but that's fine. I really think of disability as a component of diversity.
04:30It's taken me a while but I have definitely learned to love my body and
04:34myself in a way that I hadn't before. I see how beautiful and smart and
04:39wonderful they are and if I think that about them and they have a disability why
04:44can't I think that about myself. When it's for the people that you really love you
04:49want to fight for them you want to make the world a better place for them. I feel
04:54lucky to be able to have this chosen family in my life.
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