Im Sorry

By Terry Loerch

I’m sorry. I’m sorry that yet again the disabled community wakes up to headlines that feel like a demolition order for the ramps we just finished building. I’m sorry that in 2025 we still have to argue for curb cuts, captions, and common courtesy. I’m sorry our rights.... rights we bled and lobbied for are being un-stitched, thread by precious thread, while the rest of the world scrolls by.

But let me be crystal clear...... my apology ends there!

What follows is a promise and a demand.

We are Fucking Ambassadors, nothing less! We pave the roads you don’t yet realize you’ll travel. We stress-test every doorway, caption every video, and translate every interface and tactile dots so that when life hands you a diagnosis, an accident, or simply the wisdom of age, the world will already be ready.

That parking space you side-eye because it’s “so close to the door”? We fought for that, so when your knees finally stage their rebellion, it’s waiting for you. The elevator you grumble is “too slow”? We demanded that lift so your future self isn’t stranded between floors of opportunity. The closed captions you forget to switch off? We championed them because hearing loss isn’t an if, it’s a when. We do this now, for you later, because that’s what Ambassadors do.

Yet!!!!! While we draft the blueprint for a universally accessible tomorrow, the backlash is louder than the jackhammers tearing up our progress. Policies shrink. Protections evaporate. The looks of pity morph into looks of disdain, as if needing access is a moral failing. Well, news flash............. our wheelchairs, white canes, chemo ports, and service dogs are not symbols of lesser worth. They’re badges of survival and ingenuity credentials that should command respect, not dismissal!

So here is my line in the concrete: I refuse to be regarded as anything less than an Ambassador to your future. I’ll still be here when you finally understand when an ACL snaps on a ski trip, when arthritis redlines your morning jog, when Father Time reminds you that gravity is undefeated. I’ll welcome you because empathy doesn’t hold grudges. But I’m also asking.......... no..... im challenging you to join the mission before the membership card arrives in your mailbox.

Write the email and write the letter when a ramp is missing. Vote for leaders who expand rights, not extinguish them. Hold the door, yes, but also hold the conversation about inclusive tech, about equitable hiring, about dignified healthcare. Let’s trade “thoughts and prayers” for laws and budgets. Let’s swap passive sympathy for active partnership.

I’m sorry we’re under attack. I’m sorry that history keeps circling this drain. But my deepest regret would be watching you learn empathy only after you need the very access I’m fighting for today. Help now. Walk this road with us while you can still jog it.

Because we’re not just advocating for ourselves, we’re engineering the on-ramp to your tomorrow, and that makes every one of us, proudly and irrevocably, Ambassadors of the Future.