The One Winged Phoenix

The year is 1973......It's just before my tenth birthday and I received the devastating news of the sudden death of my father. While trying to understand this tragedy and process my grief, I soon found myself fighting for my own life after undergoing an eight-hour surgery to amputate my right arm in a battle against cancer. I was given a survival rate of ten percent, at best.

I am able to gain strength through the support of my strong Viking heritage. I am the first born into a Danish immigrant family. I tell the story of the incredible journeys both my mother and father traveled around the globe to meet in San Francisco.

I share how I overcame my adversity, and the obstacles I encountered growing up; from hopping on the cable cars in San Francisco with my best friend and telling wild stories of how I lost my arm, to being bullied, and the anger I felt the first time someone refers to me as "handicapped." I loved to swim and horseback ride, and my mother let me ride my bicycle or roller skate to get around and play. I am just a normal kid to me. One who just wants to climb trees with her best friend.

I learned to drive through my high school driver's education course in 'old blue,' a giant station wagon. While four other students sat nervously in the back seat, we took turns driving out onto Highway 101. Luckily for me, I had semi-learned to drive the old grey tractor back on the farm in Denmark. I spent many of my summers learning how to be independent, play games, and problem solve back in Denmark.

I discovered a love for architecture, even with the odds against me. This takes place during the time when drafting was still done by hand with a triangle and T-square, and architecture was known as a male profession. Imagine the shock from my professors when the realization strikes them that this girl with only one arm thinks she is going to pursue a profession that is often insurmountable for those with two hands. I become the first in my family to graduate from college when I received my Bachelor's degree in Architecture.

To me, life is an adventure, and I have always embraced it. I tell my story in vivid color of an extraordinary girl, who learns how to problem solve in a way that will teach people how to gain their own strength to overcome adversity. My story is authentic and spoken from the heart. It was always a matter of "How can I do this?" and to the surprise of many I always figured out a way. Once we can prove to ourselves it is possible, it gives us the confidence to show others "I can do this too!"

I believed I could do anything I set my mind to, and I did...........and I still am!