Indeed, for the last few years of his life, my dad was severely disabled from end-stage COPD. His breathing was so bad that he needed to park as close to his destination as possible to even hope to get inside. But he would walk inside, directly to a disability scooter if his destination was a supermarket or similar store.

Without the relatively close parking spot, he never would have made it. But he still sometimes got dirty looks from people presuming he was faking — like if he wasn't using a walker or a wheelchair he must not actually be disabled.

If only they'd understood how hard it was for him to even leave the house — how much strength and courage it required, and how much it took out of him even with the convenient parking spot.

Sometimes, people really spend too much energy on other people's business.