Loving family 2

4. My wheelchair is my freedom. My  wheelchair is my armour. My wheelchair is most definitely an extension of who and
what I am. Despite Mam not being literate, we had many chats about the words thatdescribed my body. There is no universal template for the relationship
between mothers and disabled daughters. I got lucky. Mam wasn’t a martyr or hero. We had an easy, loving relationship. She was happy knowing I had my brothers and sisters to teach me to be strong in an able-bodied world.
5. My earliest memories of my
grandmother Brigid are as a child trying to
slip my hand into her beady pocket,
wondering what treasures might stick to my beady fingers. She wore a plaid skirt, boots, an open cardigan and her hair in two long plaits until the day she died. A quiet but steely woman, she was widowed at an early age. In the cold weather, I would run up to her fireplace in the tent, and she would put trousers on me. To everyone else, the trousers were to keep me warm; deep inside me the kernel of knowledge that this was a political act grew. Brigid, like most Traveller
women, was strategic and political in
practical ways. Putting me in trousers meant that I could do things around the camp,chores that were considered only for boys. 

6. Mam was a small woman, just under
five foot, but she took on the establishment. On one occasion, at the residential school, there was a row over my long hair and how much attention it would demand. Short hair was manageable, and I was told I should have my long hair cut short into the pudding-bowl style that was supposed to be a bob, for my Communion. Short hair took away any sense of individuality. My Communion was in eight months. Mam dug her heels in.
7. Mam and my grandmother didn’t just
leave my hair long, they managed to put it in ringlets under my communion veil. By the time my Confirmation came around, it was down to my hips. By then, all the girls in special school had learned how to grow, plait and oil their hair. The hair oil was
contraband. It was great fun oiling and
plaiting each other’s hair. A small revolution but an important one. 

🔹 Paragraph 7

• 🌀 ringlets /ˈrɪŋ.ləts/ — кучері

• 👰 veil /veɪl/ — фата

• ✝️ Confirmation /ˌkɒn.fəˈmeɪ.ʃən/ — Конфірмація

• 🧶 plait /plæt/ — заплітати

• 🧴 hair oil /heər ɔɪl/ — олія для волосся

• 🚫 contraband /ˈkɒn.trə.bænd/ — заборонена річ

• 🔥 small revolution /ˌrev.əˈluː.ʃən/ — маленька революція

• ⭐ important one /ɪmˈpɔː.tənt/ — важлива