Shane Burcaw and Anna Reinalda are the most awesome couple you’ve ever seen.
Here's Shane Burcaw and his girlfriend, Anna Reinalda.
Shane Burcaw / Anna Reinalda
I have an enormous penis. Am I allowed to say that? Off to a great start! But seriously, I was born with a disease called spinal muscular atrophy that causes my muscles to waste away as I get older. I've been in a wheelchair since I was about 3 years old and my body is incredibly weak, so I rely on people to help me with pretty much every aspect of staying alive.
Oh yes, the other really important thing about Burcaw is this: He's a very funny guy. His blog, Laughing at My Nightmare, has over half a million followers. It's by turns moving and hilarious: He's writing about a condition that will eventually kill him. But take a while to read it: His humour in the face of his daily struggles is inspirational.
He wrote:
Once, a person blankly asked if she was "the one who takes care of him." We've gotten used to this bizarre, recurring question, and often find ways to poke fun at their ignorance.
"He's my dad," Anna will answer with deadpan perfection.
"I just pay her to be my friend," I will say.
In the thoroughly heartwarming piece, Burcaw said he didn't think he was worthy of romantic affection for much of his young life. "I worried that my physical limitations would prevent girls from wanting to date me," he wrote. "I will not be able to pick her up in my car, I can't give hugs or hold hands very well, and we will be limited in the activities we can do for dates."
But at college, he "met some spectacular people who helped me shake the notion that love was only for the physically abled".
He added: "Once I realised that there are girls out there who are more than happy to 'make it work', the fear of being unloved for all eternity drifted away like a funny joke of the past."
And he wrote about how he and Anna had bonded over laughter:
One of our main sources of bonding became teaching her how to keep me alive, like how to brush my teeth without choking me, or how to put my shoes on without snapping my ankles ... She deserves an award for putting up with my relentless teasing.
