Total recovery from the ischemic stroke that struck me last November is doubtful. As is common, the impairments that remain are not obvious but to the most observant and those who know me well. I worked 20 years at Exxon as a process operator, and after that, I helped run my family business, managed a retirement community, and worked most recently as a security guard. But now, it’s hard to work. I can’t drive and public transportation is unavailable in Channelview, Tex. For another, some of the brain damage is irreparable and affected needed reflexes. I’ve been told I’m unresponsive to common stimuli. Of course, I haven’t noticed.

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The floor in the house I’m renting is a constant companion with whom I am intimately familiar. Such is the consequence of looking down all the time. I only leave the house to walk down the road a mile or so for exercise. As a result, I am well acquainted with all of the cracks in the sidewalk. This is all new to me, but I have the constant fear that I will soon be well accustomed. At least, that’s the prognosis.

From what I can tell, many who are disabled and on the dole feel the same way. There may be some folks receiving disability benefits fraudulently, but I do know I got a good going over. A few weeks after my stroke, when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to work, my wife drove me to the Social Security office to apply for benefits. After stacks of paperwork, it took several months before my first trip to the doctor, for a psychiatric exam, where they asked me to count to 100 by sevens. It should have been simple, but about halfway through, I stumbled, and felt humiliated. More questions passed, and more confusion. A very thorough physical exam came next. And then there was a very thorough check of our finances, including the number of cars and bank accounts we have. Months on, I still haven’t received a single check. Without help from family, I would be homeless, despite over forty years in the work force. To them, I am forever grateful, but also deeply ashamed.

In a world where we’re all expected to carry our own weight, I fully understand why my fellow taxpayers don’t want to carry mine. But what I don’t understand is that the lady who helped me with the paperwork at the Social Security office told me disability was not charity. What I am to get out is based on what I put in. She told me to stop crying because it is money I have earned. So why do I feel so much shame?

I was raised with the feeling that public services should be kept to an absolute minimum, and that people who received government assistance have no class, and should have taken better care of themselves. Three weeks after my stroke, my wife of 41 years lost her job, too. She was upset due to my prognosis, and spent so much of her time taking care of me (making sure, for example, that I could turn off the burners after cooking, and make it around the house on my own) that it was hard for her to make it to work. Without her job, we had to apply for food stamps. When we first received them, I was so humiliated I wouldn’t even go to the store with her. I was afraid and demoralized.

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