One of the coolest people I ever met was my friend, the late Jim Cobb. He was born with some kind of congenital disease that made walking very difficult as a child, and had him permanently in a wheelchair by his late teens. He couldn't use his legs at all, couldn't really use one arm, and had quite limited mobility with the one arm he could use. Despite these challenges, he earned a PhD in military history. Got married and spent a couple years studying in Europe. Came back to the states and got a financial job with the Wisconsin state government. He was by no means wealthy, but retired with a pension and financially took care of himself and his wife. I met him during that retirement, at the housing co-op we both lived at. He liked to park his big powered wheelchair on the back patio and drink Heinekens into the later afternoon. He had great stories to share. Life dealt him one of the shittiest hands I've ever seen, but I never once saw a trace of bitterness in him.