Double Take (A Book Review)

We've read a bunch of books by people that have numerous limb differences lately, and we came across one we both really enjoyed and thought was the easiest to read. It's called Double Take: A Memoir by Kevin Michael Connolly. Kevin was born with two full arms and hands but no legs, and his memoir is about being an "object of curiosity." It's an excellent story of his upbringing, how his parents raised him, and what he has accomplished in his young adult life (he's 26 years old). Kevin traveled around the world on his skateboard, and ended up taking pictures of 'staring people.' He got tired of being stared at, and pointed his camera out from his hip and took a picture of someone staring. He then proceeded to take thousands of pictures of people staring at him all over the world - Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the US, etc. He's created a photography expedition called The Rolling Exhibition, which you can check out at www.therollingexhibition.com. We loved his memoir because its so real - full of stories and true life for him. We wanted to share a bit from the book, found on page 171:

"...I don't think of myself as 'disabled.' As I interpret the word, you are only disabled if you are incapable of overcoming the challenges presented in any given situation. I might be disabled when trying to haul a hundred pounds of concrete up a flight of stairs, but to my mind, I'm perfectly able-bodied when I am skating around New York City. Being disabled is also a matter of choice. Anything that you try to hide from the world also imposes a limit on you. If you don't want to risk showing off your wobbly knees or clumsiness on the dance floor and decide to sit on the sidelines, then you are unable to dance, thus, disabled."

Oh yea, and not only is Kevin a photographer, but he's also a professional skier - won silver in the X-games a few years back. Crazy! Check him out.