Our Love Story

We met at the Abilities Expo in Anaheim, CA in May 2009. At the time Tammy was living in Seattle , WA and decided to participate in a wheelchair fashionshow. One of the outfits was a beautiful white silk blouse and matching long white skirt. Tammy couldn’t help but feel like a bride as when she put a flower in her hair. Cameron ventured out for his first solo road trip after a motorcycle accident and extensive rehabilitation. He now admits that at his first sight of Tammy up on the runway, while wearing a white dress, he thought and said…. I want that one!  We became friends via social networks and one work related phone call became a personal connection that opened a door to a friendship of an unlikely pair.

A year and a half after we first met Tammy got a job in Las Vegas, and immediately reached out to Cameron to let him know she would be moving to town.  What started out as a friendship between two people with physical disabilities grew into so much more then we could have ever imagined.

Our personal journeys started long before meeting, when we each had devastating and life altering accidents. Tammy has a spinal cord injury as the result of a car accident 18 years ago when she was 17 years old.  Cameron was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him left him paralyzed from the chest down and with limited use of his left side. We have both realized our life together is quite an adventure and if we ever feel frustrated due to our physical obstacles, we always find humor in each situation to make us laugh. Although, it takes us longer to do many things or to go places, the challenges have brought us closer together. We understand what each other goes through like few people can truly comprehend. When our paths crossed we realized that we no longer had to face life’s obstacles alone.

　
Our love story began with the acceptance and understanding of how we witness and experience life similarly. Having someone to share our moments with and the privilege of witnessing one another’s lives has given us something to live for.

Our relationship is unique because having almost lost both our lives in our accidents we appreciate the little things in life. We understand that the love two people share is to be cherished. Grounding our relationship to the ability of overcoming such life changing events allows each other an insightful perspective to continue to overcome obstacles together.

In April we ventured back to the Abilities Expo where we first met, and at sunset on the pier on Hermosa Beach, Cameron proposed.  With the assistance of a trusty wooden park bench, he got out of his wheelchair and down on one knee and Tammy said yes!  We look forward to our future, and to our wedding day, which will embody the way we look at life and our feelings for one another.

Cameron and Tammy