As I've previously mentioned, my grandmother grew up on a farm in Småland.

Her father had hired a farmhand to help with the cattle and the farm work. The farmhand had a disabled brother named Gunnar.

This was back in the 1930s, so Gunnar didn't have any diagnosis or anything. But his body simply didn't allow him to do heavy lifting and physically demanding jobs. He also seems to have had a poor immune system. And so he struggled to make a living. Working as a farmhand was one of very few career opportunities for a man with no (formal) education back then. (At least in that area.)

So the able-bodied brother asked if Gunnar could come and work on the farm, despite not being able to do hard manual labor. And my great-grandfather agreed to this.

Gunnar started helping my great-grandmother around the house. He was physically unable to do "a man's job", but he turned out to be incredibly good at "women's" work. My great-grandmother had been feeling lonely, working alone in a big farmhouse all day. Gunnar didn't just help lessen the burden of running a household. Him and my great-grandmother became close friends. They talked and sang and drank coffee in the comfortable silence between people who truly know, trust and love eachother.

My grandmother was an only child for most of her childhood, and Gunnar was her best friend. He always had time to tell her a story, or to play with her, or to just let her sit in his lap while he drank his coffee. And she loved him to bits.

According to my grandmother, nobody could tell as good stories and fairy tales as Gunnar. He had a way of bringing any story to life, to make you feel like you were there, with the prince in the enchanted castle. (He also accidentally put her off eating liquorice for an entire lifetime, but that's a story for another day.)

I never got to meet Gunnar. He died when I was just a child. (My grandmother actually brought me along to the funeral.) But despite never having met him, I still feel like I know him, because my grandmother has told me so much about him.

The only thing she didn't tell me about until very recently was his disability.

Because it simply didn't matter. Not to her, and not to the rest of the family. He wasn't "the disabled one" - he was just Gunnar. And if Gunnar couldn't do heavy lifting, someone else could do it so what did it matter?

Gunnar had his own responsibilities on the farm. He was allowed to work and contribute to the survival of the farm pretty much on his own terms. He wasn't forced (or expected) to do things that hurt his body. He was allowed to focus on the things that he could do, and he was respected for doing them.

Gunnar was not a burden. Gunnar was a skilled and diligent worker. He was also a good friend and a loving member of the family.

I wanted to share this story with y'all because I feel like this is a perspective on disability that's almost never brought up.

Someone posted this to Facebook and I am absolutely losing it

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Beyonce night

Life advise . if the bus smells like pee do not sit down never pay for anything you could get for free dont work retail if you value being seen as human always give money to homeless people when u can if youre buying a jacket never settle for fake leather just look for real leather and youll find the right thrift shop eventually make sure to have chapstick with you at all times dont use a public restroom until youve checked to make sure theres toilet paper in the stall with you dont eat out if you cant tip shoplifting from corporations is totally fine and vandalism is also ok Dont get caught always trust ur gut unless your tummy hurts in which case do not trust your gut take an antacid take benadryl when you are itchty but never more than 2 at a time dont get high on benadryl because it sucks Do not get high on any cough syrup with acetaminophen in it if you value your liver do not listen to brendon uries solo work sometimes you should eat a little treat just because youcan. Always dress extravagantly and wear platform shoes if you can. Be nice. ok thats it

Did not see a single one of those coming

What type of kangaroo is this?

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I’m so proud to have been a part of this film and the uplifting strength, wisdom, and love of Mother Earth and all creation that is displayed in the relatively unknown story of the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota people’s history. You do not know the history of America without the revelations of this film told by the side of those who have lived it.

Lakota Nation vs. United States is coming to theaters on July 14th.

曜変天目茶碗、藤田美術館、大阪

yōhen tenmoku chawan from the Fujita Museum (Osaka) collection

Southern Song, 12th-13th century; National Treasure of Japan

From Wikipedia:

Jian ware
or Chien ware (Chinese: 建窯; pinyin: Jiàn yáo; Wade–Giles: Chien-yao) is a type of Chinese pottery originally made in Jianyang, Fujian province. It, and local imitations of it, are known in Japan as Tenmoku (天目). The ware are simple shapes in stoneware, with a strong emphasis on subtle effects in the glazes. In the Song dynasty they achieved a high prestige, especially among Buddhist monks and in relation to tea-drinking. They were also highly valued in Japan, where many of the best examples were collected. Though the ceramic body is light-coloured, the wares, generally small cups for tea, bowls and vases, normally are glazed in dark colours, with special effects such as the “hare’s fur” “oil-spot” and “partridge feather” patterns caused randomly as excess iron in the glaze is forced out during firing.

Ok am I, stupid or do a fair portion of the lyrics to Kiss From A Rose just not make any sense at all

Why do your eyes get "larger" when it snows. What the fuck is a gray. Seal. Seal I am talking to you. Seal.

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this is hilarious actually.

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