In 1981 Rae packed up her belongings, bade farewell to her family and friends, and crossed the Pacific to live in Seattle, Washington, where Doug previously worked before his “Down Under: explorations.  Neither had jobs, but being in their mid-twenties, this new life together was another exciting adventure and both felt optimistic something would turn up—which it did.  Microsoft, started in 1975, formed a partnership with IBM the same year the couple planted roots in the Seattle area.  Tech companies quickly sprouted in the region and the local economy soared.  Doug returned to the company where he previously worked. In 1982 the two married in a quiet ceremony.  Only a short month after they married, the young couple experienced a heart wrenching complication.  Rae underwent a hysterectomy, which meant she could not have children.  Both were devastated. Immediately Doug and Rae started the adoption process, knowing it would be a very long process.  They both believed that adopting a child from another…

Rae loved traveling overseas, especially throughout Europe, for her marketing job, but the supposedly clumsy missteps and falling increased.  She was in Spain, fell and broke her leg, and had to return to Seattle.  Rae healed and returned to Europe, when she fell again and broke her wrist.  Suspecting something was seriously wrong, in late 1997 her doctor ordered brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Doug and Rae spent little time worrying about the tests because in December 1997 they moved into their newly purchased two-story home  — a house with stairs.  She felt a little tired, but blamed the frenetic activities of unpacking and celebrating Christmas. Then one day she realized her legs would not move.  Doug vividly remembers when they received the unwelcomed diagnosis—Multipe Sclerosis.  The date was New Year's Eve, 1997, and the New Year brought swirling and life-altering changes to the Bower family's lives. Like so many others diagnosed with a condition, the first thing on the list was…

Few able-bodied persons realize how many barriers exist when trying to daily navigate public places, especially when the transportation mode is a wheelchair.  Rae Bower encountered such barriers while living in New Zealand.  Without curb cuts, sidewalks become a wall to a wheelchair user.  Without wider doors into a public building or business, entry is barred. Without elevators, mobility challenged people must stay on the first floor. Even without automatic door openers, entrance depends on someone being around to help, but many times there is no one around.  Especially important, without larger bathroom stalls, heeding nature calls become a real problem.  Put all those barriers together and exclusiveness, isolation, and loneliness can become the norm for a person with a disability. This is the new reality Rae faced, but what to do about it?  She easily could have stayed cooped up in her newly built accessible New Zealand home.  This world traveler, though, wanted to continue living her life independently, even though now…