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Like many people her age, 27-year-old Alyssa Smith is balancing a full-time job and long-term relationship.
But she’s also juggling something else.
You can’t tell by looking her, but Smith’s been in the hospital a handful of times this year battling cystic fibrosis and Type 1 diabetes.
“2019 has been rough,” she said. “I was really sick.”
Smith doesn’t always have to wear oxygen, but she carries it with her.
She also has a handicapped placard for her car, but doesn’t use it much, either.
“Exercise is good for people with cystic fibrosis, but on my bad days I’d use my handicapped placard,” Smith said.
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Earlier this month she had a bad day.
So she used her placard during a trip to a Columbus store.
“I wasn’t feeling very well, so I parked handicapped so I could just run in and grab a few things,” she said.
When Smith came out, she found a note on her car:
“Shame on you young lady. You are not handicapped. God will get you.”
“I was genuinely in shock,” Smith said. “You see notes like this on social media, but you don’t feel like it’s going to happen where I live.”
But it did. And Smith has no idea who wrote it.
She took a photo of the note and posted it on Facebook to remind people not to judge others.
“You don’t know if they’re struggling to breathe. You don’t know if they have muscular dystrophy,” Smith said. “You don’t know what kind of suffering they go through behind the scenes.”
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Smith is focused on her future, including planning a wedding, and not the words on that note.
Btu she does have some advice for the person who wrote it.
“Just be kind and keep in mind not all disabilities are visible,” she said.