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Ramon – How have your family relationships changed?

Ramon – How have your family relationships changed?

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The relationship with my family, and my caregiver—my big sister—they haven’t changed. We’re just the two brats that we grew up together. She cares more, she still wants to be there, she calls me at five o’clock every day, and asks me “Wha... Show More

The relationship with my family, and my caregiver—my big sister—they haven’t changed. We’re just the two brats that we grew up together. She cares more, she still wants to be there, she calls me at five o’clock every day, and asks me “What do I need?”—if I need her to stop by and bring me some, you know, carry-out, some carry-in, some food, or if I need anything.  And my question and my answer every day is, “No, I don’t need anything Yvonne, thank you. Go away, get a life!” That’s what I tell her, and then she keeps calling me every day. With my mom, because my mom, my relationship with my mom is that she still wants to see me cured, and it doesn’t bother me, but it’s just “Come on Ma.” I mean, everybody around it—“I’m working, I’m doing stuff, let’s just get over the fact that it’s all wrong with me.” And then, you know, she’s a Latino mother, “Oh, my son, I saw you walk, I carried you in my arms, you have to be okay again, or normal.” And I’m, “Mom, I do all kinds of stuff. Don’t you see?” So, I’m still dealing with my mom a little bit. I have two, I have another sibling, another brother from my mother’s second marriage, and those guys are the coolest. They don’t care; they treat me like they treat me when we were growing up together. They know I kid around, I’m grouchy, and, but they’re always, as soon as I call them, or say something, they know how to react because they know, “Okay, now he’s asking for help, this is serious.” So, the dynamic of the family hasn’t changed a lot. They do have to make some modifications when we go to celebrate birthdays, or have birthday parties with the big old family I got here because, “Oh, Ramon’s coming. Can we go there?” Or, some folks, like the Quinceañera is a big party in my culture, so the Quinceañera is their day, and some of my cousins, they’re like, “Oh man, we’re looking for a hall that you can go to.” And I go, “It’s your party! You go ahead and do whatever the hell you want, and I’ll try to be there. You know, don’t make a party around me, It’s your party, you know, your wedding, your Quinceañera.” So, my family, the whole family, is still like, “Oh, what can we do for Ramon?” It’s, “Just carry me in.” I mean, and my cousins are big, so they can carry me.

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Ramon – How have your family relationships changed?

Ramon

Injured in 1999 at age 25, paraplegic
More Videos by Ramon
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The relationship with my family, and my caregiver—my big sister—they haven’t changed. We’re just the two brats that we grew up together. She cares more, she still wants to be there, she calls me at five o’clock every day, and asks me “What do I need?”—if I need her to stop by and bring me some, you know, carry-out, some carry-in, some food, or if I need anything.  And my question and my answer every day is, “No, I don’t need anything Yvonne, thank you. Go away, get a life!” That’s what I tell her, and then she keeps calling me every day. With my mom, because my mom, my relationship with my mom is that she still wants to see me cured, and it doesn’t bother me, but it’s just “Come on Ma.” I mean, everybody around it—“I’m working, I’m doing stuff, let’s just get over the fact that it’s all wrong with me.” And then, you know, she’s a Latino mother, “Oh, my son, I saw you walk, I carried you in my arms, you have to be okay again, or normal.” And I’m, “Mom, I do all kinds of stuff. Don’t you see?” So, I’m still dealing with my mom a little bit. I have two, I have another sibling, another brother from my mother’s second marriage, and those guys are the coolest. They don’t care; they treat me like they treat me when we were growing up together. They know I kid around, I’m grouchy, and, but they’re always, as soon as I call them, or say something, they know how to react because they know, “Okay, now he’s asking for help, this is serious.” So, the dynamic of the family hasn’t changed a lot. They do have to make some modifications when we go to celebrate birthdays, or have birthday parties with the big old family I got here because, “Oh, Ramon’s coming. Can we go there?” Or, some folks, like the Quinceañera is a big party in my culture, so the Quinceañera is their day, and some of my cousins, they’re like, “Oh man, we’re looking for a hall that you can go to.” And I go, “It’s your party! You go ahead and do whatever the hell you want, and I’ll try to be there. You know, don’t make a party around me, It’s your party, you know, your wedding, your Quinceañera.” So, my family, the whole family, is still like, “Oh, what can we do for Ramon?” It’s, “Just carry me in.” I mean, and my cousins are big, so they can carry me.

Ramon – How have your family relationships changed?
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