A young woman adjusts to and thrives in her 'new normal' of being a double leg amputee and repeatedly pregnant.
Part 5 consists of the following chapters:
Chapter 18 – Déjà vu all over again
Chapter 19 – Truncated yet tenacious
Chapter 20 – Brothers and peers
Chapter 17 – Hope
In the San Juan airport, Jazmyn continued to receive lots of attention as the mysterious Señora de Victor. She was kind of glad they were leaving, because she didn’t especially enjoy being a celebrity. She attracted enough attention as it was simply by being legless.
On their trip home, Victor and Jazmyn had a layover in Miami. As they were waiting for their connecting flight, they were approached by two young Anglo women who appeared to be college students. One of them spoke up. “Excuse me, but you were on the flight from San Juan, right?” Victor replied affirmatively. The young woman continued. “So, you must be Victor and Señora de Victor then.”
Jazmyn simply said, “Guilty as charged” without enthusiasm, weary of all the attention.
“I’m very sorry to disturb you, but it appears that we’re flying to the same destination, so maybe you can help me. I assume you’re headed home like we are. You see, my sister was in a bad car accident a few months ago, and she had to have both legs amputated. She’s been terribly depressed ever since. She’s been in all kinds of therapy, and is on anti-depressants, but nothing seems to be helping.
“I saw the videos of you saving that man’s life. I immediately realized that you’re thriving in spite of your disability. You don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself; you’re just living life to the fullest, and not letting it stop you. You went on vacation to Puerto Rico with your husband. You’d obviously been in the ocean since you were soaking wet in the videos. You took control of that situation on the beach and did what had to be done, while able-bodied people were standing around not knowing what to do. You’re incredibly inspiring, if you didn’t realize it.
“So I was wondering if, once we get home, you could come and talk to my sister. You can do something for her that all the therapy in world can’t do: be a real-world example of what life without legs can be like. Maybe you could help her see that life is still worth living and she can still do almost anything she sets her mind to.”
“I’d be happy to talk to your sister,” replied Jazmyn. The young woman, whose name was Faith, elaborated on her sister’s situation, and the two exchanged contact information and agreed to arrange a meeting once they got home. A few days later, they did that, and a few days after that, Jazmyn arrived at the home of Faith’s parents as they had agreed. For obvious reasons, the home had been made wheelchair accessible, which was a welcome change for Jazmyn.
Jazmyn wheeled up to the front door and rang the bell. Faith greeted her and let her in. In the living room were the parents, and together the four of them discussed the amputee in question, named Hope, who was 19 years old, as well as Jazmyn’s accident and recovery. “Does Hope know I’m coming?” Jazmyn asked.
“No, we thought it best to not let her know in advance; she would have locked her door and probably barricaded it,” answered the girl’s father.
“So I shouldn’t expect a warm welcome, then?” Jazmyn asked rhetorically. She steeled herself for the hostile reaction she knew she’d be getting from Hope. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“One more thing you should know,” Hope’s mother said. “She’s going to insist you call her ‘Mara’ rather than Hope. We ignore that and call her Hope anyway.”
“I get that she probably doesn’t feel like she has any hope, but what’s the significance of the name ‘Mara’?” Jazmyn asked.
“It’s from the Bible, specifically the book of Ruth,” Hope’s mother answered. “Long story short, ‘Mara’ is a name that means ‘bitter’. That should give you an idea of her mental state.”
They went to Hope’s bedroom door, and her mother gently tapped on the door. “Go away!” Hope shouted through the door.
Her mother ignored her and sweetly said, “Hope, honey, there’s someone here to see you,” as she tried the doorknob. Fortunately, it wasn’t locked.
“Well I don’t want to see them, so everyone just leave me alone,” Hope said, clearly agitated. “And for the last time, my name’s Mara now.”
Hope’s mother came opened the door wide, allowing Jazmyn to wheel herself into the room. Hope was lying on her stomach, with her head turned away from the door. Then Jazmyn spoke. “Hello, my name is Jazmyn. You don’t know me, but I think it might do you good if you would see me.”
“I don’t need another therapist or shrink or Bible thumper or whatever you are,” said Hope loudly. “Get lost!”
Jazmyn replied, “I’m not any of those things, I promise. I work at a coffee shop, and I’m not the least bit religious. I’ll tell you what. I want you to look at me first, and then you can tell me whether you want me to stay or leave.” Jazmyn motioned for Hope’s mother to leave and close the door behind her. “If you then tell me to leave, I’ll respect your wishes.”
Hope looked toward the sound of Jazmyn’s voice. She expected to see Jazmyn standing there, since the only chair in the room was her wheelchair, but she could see that she was in a seated position. Curious, she lifted her head to get a better look, and realized Jazmyn was in a different wheelchair. Hope then turned and sat up on the bed, and could clearly see that Jazmyn had no legs; her stumps were just as short as her own. She unconsciously realized that whatever this Jazmyn person had to say, she had credibility because she knew what it felt like to have no legs. “Okay, you can stay,” she said reluctantly.
“What’s your middle name?” Jazmyn asked her.
“What?” Hope asked, caught off guard by the question.
Jazmyn repeated herself, and then explained. “You apparently don’t like your first name any more, but I’m not going to call you ‘Mara’. Your mother explained to me what it means, and we’re not going to go there. I need to call you something, so what’s your middle name?”
“It’s Katherine,” replied Hope.
“Okay, Katherine. Or would you prefer Kat?”
Hope shrugged. “Kat would be okay, I guess.”
“Kat it is, then,” Jazmyn said. “As I said, my name’s Jazmyn. I met your sister Faith at the airport in Miami. We both had the same flights coming back from Puerto Rico and had a layover there. She asked me if I would come talk to you, and I obviously agreed.”
“How sweet of her. She thought maybe another cripple would want to be my friend,” Hope said, her voice dripping with disgust. “I don’t need your friendship, Jazmyn. I just need to be left alone.”
“There’s more to the story than that, Kat,” Jazmyn replied. “Faith didn’t approach me just because she saw I had no legs. She approached me because she had seen me on the news in Puerto Rico, on the beach giving CPR to a man who almost drowned. Everyone says I saved his life. The point is, I’m not just another cripple. I’ve been living my best life ever since my accident. I don’t let my missing legs stop me from doing anything. Your sister could see that, and that’s why she asked me to talk to you.
“As I said, I work at a coffee shop, but I didn’t get the job because they felt sorry for me. I was already working there before the accident, and when I came back and they saw how hard I was working, not asking for any accommodations or lighter duty or anything, I got promoted to assistant manager. I have the complete respect of the employees there, because they know there isn’t anything I’d ask them to do that I’m not able and willing to do myself.
“I drive a car and I have a husband and a two year old daughter. I cook and clean and take care of both of them. I just came back from a Puerto Rican vacation with my husband. I was on the beach and in the ocean, in a bathing suit with my stumps on full display. My husband says I’m a much stronger, more confident woman since my accident than I was before, and he’s right.
“That’s the kind of life you can have, too, Kat, if you want it. Or you can hide in your room and wallow in your self-pity and have a miserable, pathetic life, taking your bitterness out on everyone around you. I highly recommend the first choice, but it’s entirely up to you.”
“How old are you, Jazmyn?” Hope asked.
“I’m 26,” replied Jazmyn.
“And how old were you when you lost your legs?”
“I’d just turned 23, so it was a little over three years ago.”
“How long after your accident was it when you went back to work and stuff?”
“It was about two months later, after I’d sufficiently healed up and I got my wheelchair and everything.”
“Why so quick? Did you need the money?”
“No, it wasn’t that. I was tired of sitting around and eager for everything to get back to normal. Yeah, it’s a new normal, and some things are harder now, but it’s pretty close to the old normal. But the most important thing is that I’m happy.”
“Did you really save that man’s life?” Hope asked.
“Well, other people pulled him out of the water, but once he was on the beach, no one else knew what to do, so I took charge. He wasn’t breathing and had no pulse, so I started giving him CPR. Without legs, though, I didn’t have the body weight or leverage to do the chest compressions right, so I called my husband over and I coached him while he did it, and then I started giving him mouth-to-mouth. The man they pulled out of the water, I mean, not my husband,” Jazmyn said with a smile, trying to make a joke. She managed to get a weak smile out of Hope, though. “The man started coughing up a bunch of water and was breathing on his own before the paramedics arrived.
“I also saved my nephew’s life about a year-and-a-half ago, when a piece of meat got caught in his throat and he couldn’t breathe. Again, no one else knew what to do, but I did, and I performed the Heimlich maneuver on him. But I’m not telling you this to brag; I’m trying to inspire you. I’m out there in the real world making a difference, and I don’t need legs for that. And I’m telling you, neither do you.
“How about if you and I go out and get some coffee or something to eat? I’ll show you the ropes,” Jazmyn suggested.
“I’m a complete mess!” Hope protested. “I haven’t showered in days, and my hair’s a disaster!”
“Well, it doesn’t matter to me, and I really doubt anyone else will care, either. Come on, it’ll be fun!” It took some more coaxing, and Hope wanted a few minutes to at least try to make herself a little bit presentable, but she relented.
While she was waiting for Hope, Jazmyn went back out to the living room and gave a quick status report. “We’re going to go out and get some lunch somewhere,” she said. “I can’t say when we’ll be back. If it goes well, maybe we’ll go shopping or something.” Hope’s family was amazed that Jazmyn could change her attitude so quickly. Actually, Jazmyn was rather amazed, too. She recalled what she had just told Hope: ‘I’m out in the real world making a difference.’ There was more than one way to save a life, and it occurred to her that she just might have done it again.
A short time later, Hope came to the living room reasonably presentable and in a good mood. The two legless women rolled out of the house together. Hope saw the Mustang in the driveway, and said, “Is that your car, Jazmyn? Fire! I was expecting one of those ugly vans with a ramp or chair lift or something. I didn’t know people like us could get around by ourselves in something that slays!”
Jazmyn replied, “Nah, those vans are for disabled people. I’m not disabled, and neither are you. Pick some other word to describe yourself, but not disabled or handicapped or crippled or anything like that. Make it something positive. I say I’m ‘differently-abled’, because I might have to figure out a different way, and it might take longer, but I’m nearly always able to accomplish whatever I set my mind to. Climb a flight of stairs? No problem. Unload a washing machine from the top? No problem.
“Full disclosure, though; I do also drive a minivan, but it’s the regular kind with no ramp or lift, and we have it mostly because we have a two-year-old and we plan on having more kids. Here, let me show you how to get into a Mustang without assistance.”
At the restaurant, the two women in wheelchairs got a few stares, but Jazmyn ignored them and Hope followed her lead and did the same. It did feel good to Hope to get out of the house. While they were eating and chatting, a young man about Hope’s age approached their table. From Hope’s smile of recognition, it was obvious she knew him.
“Hope!” he said. “How’re you doing? I heard about your accident, and I’m really glad to see you out and about. You look like you’re doing well, all things considered.”
“Hi, Jake,” Hope replied, smiling. “It’s good to see you, too. I won’t lie; it’s been really hard, but things are starting to look up for me. Jake, this is my friend Jazmyn.”
Jake and Jazmyn said hello to each other. Jake then said, “Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt your meal with your friend. But maybe we can hang out sometime, if you’re up to it.”
Hope replied, “I’d like that.”
Jake pulled a pen out of his pocket, wrote something on a paper napkin, and gave it to her. “Here’s my number, Hope. Let me know if you want to get together sometime, or just talk.”
“Thanks,” said Hope, “I will.” Jake then left with the people he was with.
Hope was pleased, and a bit embarrassed, by the attention Jake had given her. Jazmyn said to her, “Jake seems nice. Good looking, too.”
“Yeah,” Hope admitted, embarrassed. “I used to have a secret crush on him in middle school. But we ended up at different high schools and we lost touch.”
“Are you going to text him?” Jazmyn asked. “Yes, I am,” Hope replied. “I think it would do me some good.”
Hope continued. “You know, it’s already done me good just to get out of the house for a bit and have a meal with my new friend. I’m almost feeling… normal, I guess. I’m so glad you came to see me this morning and weren’t scared off by the way I treated you at first. Have you been doing this long, helping new amputees get their lives back on track?”
“Actually, no; you’re the very first,” replied Jazmyn.
“Well, you’re a natural at it,” said Hope. “You knew just what to say and how to say it. If someone told me yesterday that today I’d go out to lunch and have a good time and have a cute boy give me his number, I would have laughed in their face and told them they were crazy. You’ve been such a blessing to me already, and I’ve only known you, what, two hours maybe?”
“Well, I’m just happy I could help,” Jazmyn said. She’d almost said ‘make a difference’ instead of ‘help’, but thought that might be laying it on too thick.
Chapter 18 – Déjà vu all over again
About mid-September, Jazmyn stopped taking birth control pills, as it had been nearly a year since she had given birth to Ian and Julian’s twins, and she and Victor were eager to expand their own family. Besides, they both loved her having a big, pregnant belly, it drove both of them wild with sexual arousal. They began having sex at least twice daily, not wanting to take any chances missing the window when she’d be fertile. By mid-October, she was once again pregnant. A few weeks later this was confirmed by her doctor, and she was assigned a due date in early July the following year. By then, Valeria would be nearly 3-1/2 years old.
At their next opportunity, the evening before they both had the same day off work, they had Valeria spend the night and the following day at her grandparents’, and Victor and Jazmyn celebrated with an all-night session of bondage, sex, numerous orgasms, and repeated trips to subspace. They couldn’t be any more in love with each other if they tried.
That Christmas, Victor, Jazmyn, and Valeria returned to Long Island to celebrate the holiday with Victor’s family. This time, Jazmyn was welcomed as a hero. When she came in the front door, everyone in the house stopped whatever they were doing and gave her a standing ovation. This was the first time they’d seen her since she had saved the second of two family members’ lives, most recently, Victor’s late grandfather’s first cousin in Puerto Rico. It was quite a dramatic change from the frosty reception she’d been given two years prior.
While they were there, they announced that they were expecting their second child in July. Of course, everyone was happy for them, but a few family members pulled one or the other of them aside and asked something to the effect of, Not that it matters, but is this baby going to have missing legs, too? Victor and Jazmyn both felt like they needed to provide a remedial class in human reproduction. They tried to explain that Jazmyn’s condition wasn’t hereditary since she’d lost her legs in an accident, and that Valeria being born without legs was nothing more than a strange coincidence, or maybe God knowing that Jazmyn would be the perfect mother to a legless little girl.
A few months into her pregnancy, Jazmyn told Victor, “You know something? This pregnancy feels more like when I was carrying Ian’s twins than it does when I carried Valeria. I’ll need an ultrasound to be sure, but that’s just how it feels. You might want to get mentally prepared for that possibility.”
“Hey, the more the merrier!” Victor said in response. “We both loved your big pregnant twin belly last time, and we both want lots of kids. Bring it on!”
Jazmyn was decidedly less enthused. “You may have loved my big pregnant twin belly, and I’ll admit, I loved the way it looked and felt and turned me on, but it became a real problem for me there towards the end. I was too big and heavy to be able to lift my ass off the ground or out of my seat just using my arms, and my arms are all I have. The only thing that’ll be better this time is that I’ll at least know in advance what’s going to be a problem and I’ll be able to plan for it. Assuming it really is twins this time.”
“Assuming it is, what would you want to do differently this time?” asked Victor.
“First, I wouldn’t want to have to work at the coffee shop those last few months. “Second, I’d want a proper wheelchair van like Mama has. Third, I’d want a lift device or two or three so I could get down on the floor with Valeria and back up again, and I could get from the bed to the wheelchair to the toilet a lot easier.”
“All of that is going to take money,” Victor said.
“Yeah, I know,” agreed Jazmyn, sighing. “But you asked me what I’d want, so I told you. If it helps any, remember last time Mama let me borrow her van for the final month. I wouldn’t want a wheelchair van permanently anyway. Those are for disabled people, but I’m not disabled; I’m differently-abled. I don’t know if it’s possible to rent one for a few months. Same with the lift devices; maybe they can be rented. And especially if it’s twins, maybe it’ll be time to quit work for good and be a stay-home mom. Daycare for two babies is going to cost a big pile of money, and that’s on top of what we’re already paying for Valeria.”
“Good points, Jaz,” replied Victor. “I’ll look into whether those things can be rented and what it’ll cost.” “Well, no big rush until we know it’s really twins. I’m only going to need them toward the end anyway.”
Jazmyn did have an ultrasound that confirmed she was indeed carrying twins, and a subsequent one that showed that they were both boys. Left unanswered was the question of whether they were identical or fraternal twins. They wouldn’t know that until the boys were born. And so, Jazmyn informed her manager of her intentions to resign, giving the boss as much time as possible to find someone to replace her.
Victor had previously said that he wanted a son named Victor junior, and that in general his sons should have names that were common and spelled the same in both English and Spanish, not counting any accent marks. The firstborn son’s name was therefore easy – Victor Benjamin Alvarez, Jr. in English or Victor Benjamin Alvarez Farris in Spanish. Jazmyn wondered whether her husband would want to actually call their son Victor or not. She thought it would be less confusing if they called him Ben.
Jazmyn started looking into what names they could use for their second son. Some names were the same in both languages, but they were kind of unusual names in English – names like Adrian, Oscar, Aaron, Isaac, Gabriel, Sebastian, Simon, etc. Julian was such a name, but that was her brother-in-law’s name so it was kind of off-limits.
There really weren’t a lot of names she found that she thought would work well; those she found included Daniel, David, Lucas, Martin, and Samuel. Of those, she liked Daniel the best, and she liked the way Ben and Dan sounded together. She was undecided about a middle name, but thought maybe a clearly Hispanic middle name would be best in order to conserve the bilingual names for any future sons they might have.
Victor did find out that it was possible to rent lift devices and worked with Jazmyn to determine exactly what she thought she’d need. He made sure they were delivered and set up before she actually began to need them. He also discovered you can rent a wheelchair-accessible van, but that it’s very expensive, and to do so for an extended period of time is prohibitively expensive.
On the other hand, he realized her need for such a van was greatly reduced since she wouldn’t be working to the end of her pregnancy like last time. Victor called Mama Bryana and discussed this with her. He knew how much of an inconvenience it had been for Bryana and those who drove her places when Jazmyn had used her van for a month the last time, and he didn’t want to ask her to do that again. However, they were able to work out a deal where Jazmyn could use her van for as long as needed, provided that she was willing to use it to take Bryana where she needed to go. Since Jazmyn wouldn’t be working, she’d be available to do that. They’d just have to coordinate their calendars so they didn’t have conflicting appointments.
Victor explained to Jazmyn how much it would cost to rent a wheelchair van, and she agreed they couldn’t afford it. He then presented the arrangement he’d made with her mother to share her van, and Jazmyn thought it was brilliant. She wholeheartedly agreed to the plan and thanked Victor for being clever enough to think of it.
As Jazmyn’s belly grew, so did her already large boobs and substantial libido. As all three of those grow, so did Victor’s sex drive. He couldn’t think of anything hotter than his beautiful, legless, pregnant, big-boobed, horny wife carrying his own twin boys, especially when she willingly, no, eagerly put on her heavy metal collar and wrist shackles that only he had the keys to. She suggested that he weld a two-foot length of chain to the ring on the collar so that he could readily pull her around or reposition her at will, and he readily agreed.
The two made passionate love nearly every evening after Valeria was asleep, and they regularly arranged for Valeria to have a sleepover with one of Jazmyn’s relatives, or now also Hope, so that they could have an all-night subspace session. It seemed to both of them that life couldn’t get much better than this.
Jazmyn left her job as assistant manager of the coffee shop in mid-April, about 2-1/2 months before her due date. As far as she was concerned, it wasn’t a minute too soon, because her girth was already significantly reducing her mobility. She’d worked there nearly nine years, ever since she the summer she’d graduated from high school, and she was well loved by her co-workers and regular customers alike. Technically, her co-workers were actually subordinates now, but they didn’t think of themselves that way.
Her co-workers organized a farewell party for her on the evening of her last day of work, after closing time, at a bar within walking distance to the coffee shop. They put up a sign announcing the party on the counter next to the cash register, inviting regular customers but requesting that they RSVP. Of course, Jazmyn couldn’t drink alcohol, but the bar owner provided her with bottomless non-alcoholic drinks. Jazmyn was blown away by all of the people who heard about the party and came to wish her well – former co-workers from years prior, many regular customers past and present, and even her first boss, Jay, who had recommended her for assistant manager just before he departed. Jay had invited Jazmyn’s father Cody, who had been his first boss at the same coffee shop, but Cody declined, not thinking it appropriate.
Cody did, however, write a letter for Jay to read aloud to Jazmyn at the party, basically saying how proud he was of her for following in his footsteps and having a great career while being so well-loved. Maybe it was just the pregnancy hormones, but Jazmyn was moved to tears as Jay read her father’s letter. She wondered whether Valeria or one of the twins would someday work at the same coffee shop.
Little Valeria was old enough to understand that there were two babies growing in her mommy’s tummy, and that someday soon they’d come out and be her little brothers. She had the maternal instincts that many little girls have, and looked forward to helping her mother take care of babies. But she asked Jazmyn whether they’d have legs, and was disappointed when she told her that indeed they would. She wasn’t thrilled that they were boys, either; she would have much preferred at least one sister.
Valeria was also unhappy that she had had to leave daycare. She was excited at first, but she had the notion that her mother would play with her and give her her nearly undivided attention, as had been the case when Jazmyn’s day off fell on a weekday and she kept Valeria home. That turned out to not be the case, and Valeria was unaccustomed to having to entertain herself. She liked the additional time that she did get with her mother, but she also missed her daycare friends.
Chapter 19 – Truncated yet tenacious
(Authors Note: Chapter 19 begins simultaneously with Chapter 1 in the parallel story But God Pursued Her, which explores Jazmyn’s and Victor’s increasing interest in spiritual matters. This story, Truncated yet Tenacious, continues with the secular aspects of their lives, with only occasional mentions of religion. But God Pursued Her is nearing completion and will be posted before long.)
Meanwhile, ever since Jazmyn and Hope first met, they’d stayed in frequent touch with each other as Jazmyn mentored her in how to live without legs, both physically and emotionally, and Hope learned to accept her new reality. They saw each other in person regularly, often out in public somewhere, or otherwise at Jazmyn and Victor’s home. Jazmyn was glad that Valeria now had another legless role model in her life, and Hope became almost like another aunt to her.
Hope and Jake had begun dating, and their relationship was going well. Hope was very much aware that this relationship would have never happened if Jazmyn hadn’t come to her house that day and insisted that they go out to lunch together, and she was most grateful, both to Jazmyn herself, and to God, who she perceived as orchestrating it all from above. It had even occurred to her that she would not have even met Jazmyn, and none of the rest of it would have happened, had she not lost her legs in that traffic accident. As she became stronger emotionally she even began to think of her accident as a blessing in disguise, just as Jazmyn had come to consider hers.
Hope kept bringing up two subjects when she and Jazmyn talked. The first was that Jazmyn should put herself out there as a mentor to new amputees and probably also to parents of children born with missing limbs, in order to intentionally help more people in the same way she had helped her. The second was that Jazmyn should acknowledge God’s role in orchestrating her life and allowing an apparent tragedy to turn into such a blessing for Jazmyn herself as well as the people she encountered.
In Hope’s mind, the two subjects were linked. If God had blessed Jazmyn, it was her obligation to pay it forward and bless others. Likewise, since she was more and more thinking of her own amputations as a blessing, Hope was sensing that she needed to pay it forward as well. Over time, Hope talked less about Jazmyn doing this mentoring on her own, and more about the two of them both doing it in some kind of coordinated way. Eventually this turned into an ongoing discussion about creating a charitable organization to provide peer support to amputees and parents of children with limb differences. There wasn’t any such existing group in their area, with the exception of one for military veterans who had lost limbs in combat.
Jazmyn gradually warmed up to the idea of partnering with Hope to form a peer support group. If it operated as a charity, they’d be able to accept donations to offset their expenses without having to pay taxes on them, and the donors would be able to avoid paying income taxes on the money they donated. They might even be able to get businesses to donate tangible things like mobility devices that would make the lives of new amputees easier. Jazmyn discussed this with Victor, and he was completely in favor of the idea and offered to support her in doing this in whatever way he could.
Jazmyn and Hope began planning how this organization might work. They agreed that they should start small, with only the two of them involved at first, and they should limit themselves to what they knew and felt most comfortable with – peer support for women and girls with leg amputations where the use of prosthetics wasn’t feasible, as well as peer support for parents of babies and children who were born without legs or with only partially formed legs. It occurred to Jazmyn that Victor was also qualified to do the latter as the father of a child born without legs.
The two women started thinking about what they would call their charity. Hope suggested using the word ‘limb’ mashed up with the words ‘unlimited’ or ‘limitless’, which they both thought was clever, but they discovered it wasn’t even remotely original – lots of existing organizations and products for amputees already used the words ‘unlimbited’ or ‘limbitless’ or ‘no limbits’ or ‘without limbits’ in their names.
Jazmyn suggested an alliteration of positive-sounding words, such as ‘boundless’, ‘brave’, ‘beauty’ and so on, but a lot of those possible names were also already taken. Besides, Hope pointed out, they were kind of generic-sounding and didn’t really indicate what their purpose was or who they were trying to serve. After discussing and shooting down lots of potential names, they finally agreed on “Truncated Yet Tenacious”. It wasn’t a perfect name; certainly some people wouldn’t know what those words meant, but they both thought it was the best they could come up with that wasn’t already in use. They both also liked that the acronym TYT was pronounceable; of course, they said it as the word ‘tight’ rather than something else less family-friendly.
And so they proceeded with establishing a tax-exempt charitable organization with the name they had chosen. Victor, as a financial planner, had a good understanding of what they had to do to make everything official and legal, and made it all happen. The organization was required to have a board of directors, and so he listed himself, Jazmyn, and Hope as directors. The three agreed that Victor should be chairman of the board, but that Jazmyn and Hope would actually run things.
Once the charity was legally established, the families of the three founders all made good-sized donations to the organization, enabling them to open a bank account, get a phone number, and pay to have a professional-quality website and e-mail accounts created. They then created pages for the organization on various social media platforms.
This was intended to be a part-time, volunteer operation, as no one thought there’d be much demand for their services, as narrow as their scope was. However, they failed to take into account the pent-up demand due to there previously being no such organization in their area. As word spread, the three became besieged with many requests for assistance, a good number of which were outside of their defined scope. They met to discuss the problem, and agreed that they had no choice but to automatically turn down the out-of-scope requests, and to prioritize the in-scope requests and only agree to the ones that they deemed high priority and within their capacity.
Over time, supply and demand evened out. The charity attracted additional volunteers they deemed qualified to provide peer support, including several outside their original scope, including male amputees, people with amputated arms, parents of children with missing or incomplete arms, and amputees that could use prosthetics. As they brought on these additional volunteers, they expanded the scope of the organization accordingly.
The charity also attracted additional donations of money as well as equipment. In particular, they were building up an inventory of donated pediatric wheelchairs in various sizes, since children outgrew them just like they outgrew clothing. They began a program where the charity would provide a child’s wheelchair at no charge to low income families with the understanding that they’d return it when the child outgrew it or otherwise no longer needed it.
They also developed partnerships with other organizations and groups providing services to their clients. For example, a therapist might refer a new amputee to their peer support program, or a volunteer might refer someone in the program to a therapist if their mental health issues were beyond their ability to address.
But as the organization evolved, the three directors found that more and more of their limited time was being taken up by administrative work, reducing their availability to actually provide peer support. By this point, Jazmyn was expecting twins. They discussed their various options, and it was mutually agreed that once Jazmyn left her coffee shop job, she’d be paid a part-time salary as the president of the organization and have primary responsibility for the paperwork that all three of them were currently doing. She’d do this work from home, and they’d take Valeria out of daycare, reducing the impact of the loss in income. This would also give her the time to continue as an unpaid peer counselor.
They also decided that as a paid employee, it wasn’t appropriate for Jazmyn to also be on the board of directors. She resigned her board position, and Victor and Hope replaced her with Jazmyn’s quadruple amputee mother Bryana. They’d never considered Bryana suitable to be a peer counselor due to her amputations having been voluntary, but they saw no reason she couldn’t be an effective director.
Chapter 20 – Brothers and peers
Jazmyn’s due date was in early July, but that was based on a normal, single baby pregnancy. In reality, twins and other multiple births usually came a few weeks early, though that was never the case with any of Mama Bryana’s nine pregnancies. Jazmyn had delivered Ian’s twins at about 37 weeks, so she figured this time wouldn’t be much different. That meant she could very well go into labor in mid-June. There were a lot of June birthdays in her family, including her own, and she had mixed feelings whether she wanted her twins to have their own unique birthdays or share them with her or someone else.
But Jazmyn didn’t have a say in the matter; it was entirely up to the babies. It turned out the babies were in no particular hurry to leave their nice, cozy womb, and so they continued to develop and grow. Jazmyn’s belly consequently was noticeably bigger than it had ever been with the previous twins she’d carried. She was glad she’d quit her job and gotten those lift devices and Mama’s van; she’d never be able to move otherwise. But the delay also meant she and Victor got to enjoy pregnant sex that much longer, and that was nothing short of amazing.
Finally, in the last few days of June, Jazmyn began to experience random and infrequent contractions, and she made it until July before the babies made it known they were serious about coming out. By then, it was the start of the Independence Day holiday weekend and Victor was home from work, so it was just a matter of finding someone to watch Valeria. They had several people on standby, but the one who was reachable and available was Hope, so she came over and stayed with Valeria in the Alvarez home.
And so Victor Benjamin Alvarez, Jr. and Daniel Fernando Alvarez made their entrances into the world. It turned out, Victor was fine with calling his son Ben; he realized the confusion that having two Victors in the house would cause. On the other hand, and something neither of them realized, was that by doing so, their eldest son would spend his entire life having to explain that even though his first name was Victor, he went by Ben. It turned out that the boys were fraternal, or non-identical, twins, so Jazmyn had double ovulated.
Jazmyn quickly realized that caring for newborn twins is a whole lot harder than caring for one. She was really glad she had quit her job, because if she hadn’t, she’d be on maternity leave and having to care for them, and Valeria, by herself while Victor worked. When her leave was up, Victor would have taken his paternity leave. But since she’d quit, Victor went on paternity leave right away, meaning that there’d be two of them caring for their three children for six weeks. By the time his leave was over, it would be at least somewhat easier.
Victor being home for those six weeks was also good for Valeria. She was already struggling with not having playmates and Jazmyn not being able to give her much attention due to her charity responsibilities. She’d been under the impression that she’d be able to play with her two new brothers, and was quite disappointed that mostly slept and nursed and were no good at playing when they weren’t doing those other things. But with both parents home, they were able to tag team and give her a fair amount of attention.
But Jazmyn and Victor did realize they needed to provide their daughter opportunities to interact with her peers, which they’d taken from her when they pulled her out of daycare a few months prior. It also began to dawn on them that she’d do well to be around other children with physical disabilities. Valeria herself had mentioned more than once that she was the only kid with no legs, or so she thought. She also seemed to be under the mistaken impression that only females could have missing limbs, since the only others she knew were her mother, her grandmother, and her “aunt” Hope.
Valeria’s parents, of course, knew of a good number of children with missing or incomplete limbs through their work with the charity. Their focus had been to provide peer support to the parents of these children, but perhaps the children themselves would also benefit from their own peer support. They discussed various ways they could make this happen, or at least encourage it, while also protecting their clients’ privacy.
It seemed to them that the best way would be to arrange some kind of children’s event and spread the word to their clients and former clients who were parents of such children. It would certainly have to be wheelchair-friendly and suitable for a range of ages and types and degrees of disability. The whole point was to encourage interaction between the children, so it would have to consist of participatory activities rather than them being passively entertained. They could probably find lots of businesses that would donate towards an event for handicapped children. But they were at a loss as to specifically what they could do.
They decided to put the word out to all of their current and former clients, both parents of children and otherwise, that the organization was wanting to hold an activity like this and was looking for ideas, recommendations, and assistance in planning it. That turned out to be the best strategy, because one child’s mother was a professional event planner, and the wife of an adult client was a children’s party planner. Both had lots of connections and relevant experience and offered their services for free. Jazmyn put them in contact with each other and asked them to come up with a few different proposals to submit to her and the board of directors for consideration.
Jazmyn and the board members loved the ideas that the two planners came up with, and considered that if the event went well, they could make it a recurring thing and use some of the ideas they didn’t use for the first one.
They ended up making arrangements to use a swimming pool for their event the weekend after it had otherwise closed for the season. The people planning the event included a number of other activities as well, and lined up people to run them. There were lots of food and other refreshments. With the donations they received by various businesses, it ended up costing the organization almost nothing.
Most importantly, though, the kids had a blast, and most were very excited to meet and play with other kids like them, many for the first time in their lives. The parents eagerly exchanged contact information with each other so their kids could continue to play with their new friends after the event was over. Almost without exception, the parents were extremely grateful that the organization had thought to hold such an event, pleased that it had gone so well, and eager to know when the next such event would be held. Almost immediately afterwards, there was a big jump in donations to the charity, mostly by the parents and extended families of children who had attended the event.
Valeria couldn’t stop talking about it. She, of course, had lots of fun in the pool and participating in the other activities. But mostly, she was amazed to discover there were so many other kids, both boys and girls, with missing or partially missing limbs. For the first time in her brief life, she had felt normal around other children. She especially connected with two children close to her age, a Chinese-American girl named Amy who was missing her arms, and a Hispanic girl named Josefina, or Josie for short, who only had short leg stumps.
Jazmyn arranged separate play dates with the mothers of the other two children soon after the pool party, and it was obvious that the children thoroughly enjoyed being in each other’s company and playing together. It turned out that Amy’s mother also stayed home with her children, so they made a standing arrangement where the two girls would spend a day at each other’s home each week. Both mothers marveled at how quickly Valeria and Amy began to cooperate, each helping the other with tasks that were difficult or impossible for them. Valeria became Amy’s hands when she couldn’t accomplish something using her feet. Valeria would get on Amy’s back to reach a doorknob or a light switch, which neither of them could do on their own.