WEBVTT

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>> Meet Joe and Sara Zesski.

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>> I am a wife and a
mother who currently works

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as a victim witness advocate

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for the Mercer County
Prosecutor's Office

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in New Jersey.

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>> I work for the
Northeast ADA Center.

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I have been in the disability
field for a long time.

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>> The Zesskis live full lives,

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between juggling
busy work schedules,

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their family, and other demands.

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Another factor is
their disabilities.

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>> We both struggle
with life/work balance,

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and both in the same way,
because we're both professionals

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who put a lot of personal value

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on doing a good job
as a professional.

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And, I think that's part
of how we were raised.

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It's also part, I
think for both of us,

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comes from having a disability,
and when you're a professional

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with a disability, though things
are, I think getting much better

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in the bigger scheme,
there's still a lot of feeling

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that you have to prove that
you're equal to other people

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who don't have disabilities.

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>> Disability does impact
work/life balance, which figures

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in not only work and family,
but also self-care and leisure.

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For instance, while Joe works
remotely from home many days,

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when he does go to the office,
at the ADA Center's affiliate

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in New Jersey, Resources

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for Independent Living,
it takes a long time.

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It can take him two
hours just to get to work

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because he doesn't drive,
compared to 35 minutes

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for someone driving
door-to-door.

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Or, when they were
looking for a home,

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they needed to not only find
a place that was accessible

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for Sara, but also

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on a paratransportation
route for Joe.

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>> Some days, I mean, some days
we're able to work together

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to create that work/life
balance, so, you know,

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we're on a committee
together at church.

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So, it's-- and it's
an opportunity for us

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to be doing something
that is service-related.

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It's leisure in some way,
but we're doing it together

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so we have that family
connection.

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>> One practice that
I have is to try

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to keep boundaries
as much as possible.

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With my kind of work,
my hours, they vary,

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depending on the work
load I have at the moment.

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And, as much as I possibly
can, I try to be mindful of,

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you know, at the end of the
day, at 5 o'clock, my work needs

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to be over for the day,
because that starts, really,

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my family time that I really
need to devote to my family.

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>> Everyone has stress
in their life.

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I think if you show me somebody
who doesn't have any kind

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of stress in their life, I would
say they're not really living.

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>> Stress, I try to
manage through prayer.

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For me, that's sort of the
place, when I do that quiet time

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for prayer, that
I manage stress.

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That, and when I take time to,
not shut off mentally, but just,

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I take that time to
read, or just, you know,

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watch something silly on TV.

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We're people who do enjoy doing
things like going to a park.

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We have a membership
to an organization here

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in New Jersey called the
Grounds for Sculpture,

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that's fairly near to our house.

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We enjoy walking those grounds.

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>> I can make a plan, and I can
have a day of what I want to do.

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But, if something happens
in one of those areas

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that becomes the
priority, I can be flexible.

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I can change it around.

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I can adapt to it.

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And, when you grow
up with a disability,

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that's one of the
things you have to learn.

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You're either, you know,
curled up in a ball, in bed,

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giving up on life,
or you're adapting.