My name is Misty Rae Addington.  I am 24 years old.

I live in a nursing home because my parents are dead and there's nobody to take care of me.  I don't like it much, but I'm slowly getting used to it.

I have cerebral palsy.  I was born with brain damage and it affected my movement; my brain tells my body to move one way and it wants to go in a different direction; it's like the pathways between the nerves and the brain itself are screwed up.  I am in a wheelchair and I cannot walk.  I can talk, but not real well; so I do better using a special board with symbols on it; that way, I can "communicate" better than I am able to.

Someone has to feed me; it takes over an hour 'cause I'm so slow.  It's also very messy.  I drool all over the place and get more food on me than in me.  LOL

My parents died 2 years ago when I was 22.  They died in a car wreck.  It was the worst feeling in the world because I didn't even get to say goodbye.  At the time I had major surgery done on my hips and legs, and I was unable to go to the funeral.  My friend Cara went, to represent me, but I wish I could have been there myself.  It would have made the pain I still feel in my heart a lot easier to bear.

I like to watch tv (America's Got Talent, American Idol, and Dancing With The Stars are probably my three favorite shows; I also love Animal Planet and America's Funniest Home Videos), have people read (or sing) to me, listen to music (country music is the best; Loretta Lynn and Rascal Flatts are my two favorites!), play card games, and go on trips with the residents from the nursing home every Saturday if the weather isn't too nasty out; I look forward to the day trips the most 'cause it means we can get out of the home and actually do something fun instead of watching dust collect on our toenails! :)

If I were physically able, I would have liked to gone to college or write a book, perhaps a story, about myself.  Which is why I am doing this now, as a way to have people get to know me and let them see that I am not just a lump in a wheelchair: I happen to be a person too!

Well, I'm getting tired; it takes so much to try to communicate.  It's also getting time for bed; we go to bed by 8 or 9 every night.  I also have to take my evening medications.  I will write in here again soon; until later, this is Misty Lee Addington saying so long; may God bless you always!

~Misty Rae.  :)