Cerebral Catholic Dad

Hi all,

My name is Michael Lewis. I am a 39-year-old Catholic, husband to Kimberly, and Dad to five kids ranging in age from 10 to 2. 

I also have cerebral palsy (CP), a neurological disorder caused by a traumatic birth when parts of my brain were damaged by oxygen deprivation. My spastic, diplegic CP affects my speech, hearing, fine motor skills, and gait. In a future post, I plan to share my experience with CP and how it has impacted my life—from childhood to college, marriage and fatherhood, and everything in between. 

I am also a public policy professional, a lover of philosophy, theology, and politics, and have been for about 25 years. In 8th grade, my language arts teacher, Tina Maple, noticed that I could write well and began assigning me more “advanced” literature to write essays about. I was placed in honors English during my freshman year of high school and continued honing my writing skills throughout college. 

I combined my love for policy and writing by contributing to The Tower at Catholic University, the Daily Tar Heel at UNC-Chapel Hill, and other political publications in Washington, D.C. 

…And then life got busy. Marriage, kids, career. I stopped writing for fun. A while ago, I went through a personal health crisis and realized I missed writing. What’s more, I realized I had changed a lot in the past several years—becoming wiser, more understanding, more humble, and I sincerely hope, a better man, husband, dad, friend, and colleague. 

So, I decided to start writing again, but not just about current events. I want to tell my story—the experiences that shaped me into the person I am today. The triumphs and humbling experiences that made me look back and realize that in my younger days, I was full of myself, unnecessarily strident, and even alienating—all of which came through in my writing.

 Cerebral Catholic Dad—this title captures what I believe are the three core aspects of who I am today, though not necessarily in that order. I just thought Cerebral Catholic Dad sounded the best. I plan to write here from that perspective—a Catholic dad with CP. 

Politics, disability rights, parenting as a disabled person, being in an “inter-abled” marriage, and my personal experiences. Eventually, I would love to have a podcast where I can invite people to discuss all these topics and more—and perhaps even give you a glimpse of the organized chaos that is my family of seven.

 I hope you’ll continue reading, even when you disagree (NOTE: no matter where you stand on the political spectrum, I am sure I will write something you find disagreeable at some point!). I am excited to be writing again, and I hope my experiences can make some small contribution to the world! 

Best,

 ~Michael