Nearly a decade agops88, back when platforms like Tumblr still ruled the internet, I stumbled upon a popular blog called “Laughing at My Nightmare.” Thus began one of my first parasocial relationships.

The blog was written by Shane Burcaw, a motivational speaker and manager of his own nonprofit who has spinal muscular atrophy — a disease that significantly weakens his muscles and requires him to use a power wheelchair. It was raw, hilarious and unfiltered, but between the toilet jokes and sarcastic armor, he often got vulnerable.

“Mentally and emotionally, I am more than capable of being in a relationship, and that is the problem,” he once wrote. “In my mind, I want to believe that I will eventually find someone, but I realize the chances are slim to none.”

I was in my 20s at the time, like Shane, and also had a lifelong physical disability, bilateral vocal cord paralysis. I wore a tracheostomy tube to help me breathe. And, like Shane,phl63 casino I often wondered whether I would ever find a partner who loved all of me — including, not in spite of, my disability.

Little did I know, I’d already met a history major who loved to quote Shakespeare and would eventually become my husband. And in 2016, Shane received an email from a nondisabled woman named Hannah Aylward, who had watched a short documentary about his life and had a gut feeling they’d get along.

They married in September 2020.

The Burcaws are now well known for their YouTube channel, Squirmy and Grubs, where they have documented their relationship for six years. They have more than four million followers across social media and share a passion for disability advocacy and a bone-dry humor. Even through the tough stuff.

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Among national universities, Princeton was ranked No. 1 again, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Stanford, which tied for third last year, fell to No. 4. U.S. News again judged Williams College the best among national liberal arts colleges. Spelman College was declared the country’s top historically Black institution.

Calls for school crackdowns have mounted with reports of cyberbullying among adolescents and studies indicating that smartphones, which offer round-the-clock distraction and social media access, have hindered academic instruction and the mental health of children.

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