“Hi! My name is Monica and my husband is Glen – we’re the Dicks (yes, you can laugh, we do all the time!). In 1995, Glen had just graduated with a degree in Landscape Architecture and landed his first job. A few months later, Glen was at the shore in Delaware with friends and was accidentally pulled off a dock into very shallow water and broke his neck at C4/5. During the next 9 years, he learned to drive, bought a house and went back to his job. In the meantime, my career was in Corporate Marketing. I was working crazy hours and I was extremely stressed and unhappy every single day. We met online in 2004 and it was actually his extremely positive outlook on life and sense of humor that attracted me to him (besides being very handsome of course) and led me to quit my job.
We were married in 2005 and after 10 fertility procedures (!), we had our daughter Elaina in 2009. Glen spends his time now writing and speaking in schools about disabilities and overcoming adversity. He has also taught himself to paint with his mouth and was recently accepted into the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists.
I volunteer with a special needs charity and at my daughter’s school, and we love to travel. We’ve been through 2 years of infertility, crippling pain, MRSA, skin wounds, a very bad car accident for him, a prescription drug addiction for me and the death of both of his parents, but we have gotten through it all through constant communication and laughter. This life is hard, but he makes me laugh almost every day and that makes it all worthwhile." - Monica
