Skip to main content

The Chair

It's no secret that I didn't go easily into the wheelchair - I went kicking and screaming, metaphorically at least. So when a Facebook memory came up from 4 years ago, of the day I got Hot Wheels, it was an opportunity to reflect back over those years and how this chair has changed my life and perspective.

While I still wish I didn't have secondary progressive MS that necessitated my need for a wheelchair, that I have it is a fact of life that wishing cannot change. I have prayed too, but the answer to those prayers seem to be that I'm supposed to be where I am and to be a wheeled disciple for God's grace. (If you knew me when I was in my teens and 20s you'd know that I was hell on wheels before I had wheels and led anything but a grace-filled life).

Prior to acquiescing to the wheeled life, I used to hobble along using a cane or walker and falling frequently. It was after one of those falls that I sat on the floor amid spilled groceries in tears pleading to God for an answer and help. I looked up and before me was the wheelchair I had used recently when I broke my foot. 

"No," I said looking to the ceiling, "that can't really be your answer!"

Shortly after that, I got an upgrade from that clunky, heavy, plain black chair to the lighter, jazzy red chair - aka Hot Wheels. Aside from occasional pity parties or grumble fests, I have been blessed and helped immensely by this chair. 

* By using the chair, I have more energy because I'm not exhausting my body and mind by Struggling to safely walk any distance. I didn't realize how difficult it had become to remain uppright while walking until I didn't have to do that anymore.

* I was able to tour Ireland and even received carte-blanche treatment because unlike the US they don't have the ADA so access to all buildings isn't a guarentee and to gain entry to some, the proprietors will roll out the red carpet or in this case a ramp or special entrance.

* I bumped down the cobbled streets of the Tower of London (and trust me it was bumpy!) and realized while there that if you'd been disabled in days gone by, you didn't get by easily or at all because there was no way to get around.

* I have had countless conversations with children in their strollers, because we are eye-to-eye. And never have I had a conversation with a child and not felt blessed. My wheelchair gets compared to their stroller, because its often seen as a stroller to them. They also love to the scooter carts at grocery stores that I have the privilege of riding and that I realize is really not a privilege when one is not available - but that is for another blog post.

* Going anywhere is easier when I don't have to worry about falling or actually falling. I grumble about the hassle of putting the chair in and out of the car, but not having the chair would further limit my ability to be out and about.

* My family worries a hell of a lot less about me. I can see in my mind's eye their expressions as they watch me tenuously traverse the flattest of surfaces while using a cane- it's like they're waiting for a train wreck. Conversely, they love to push me around, literally and figuratively, and this chair gives them that joy. I love to enable joy.

There are a gazillion more reasons, large and minute, that I feel gratitude for Hot Wheels but I'll not bore you with them. Instead, I'll spend time in quiet reflection.




#theglassishalffull
#msadvocate
#disabilitymatters
#izzywheels


Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Going off the Rails on a Crazy Train

While getting an MRI recently, I selected to listen to a classic rock station. Actually I requested a station that played 70s or 80s music and the tech asked if I wanted pop or rock. "Well, classic rock would probably be better since I have to hold still," I responded. "If I listened to pop, I'd want to be dancing." And so I laid perfectly still while listening (or kind of listening since really in an MRI you never really drown out the loud bangs, whirs and booms). And it came to pass that the song "Crazy Train" started playing and I started to silently and stillfully laugh to myself. What a strangely perfect song for this moment in my life. Ozzy Osbourne was singing my song (has anyone ever really said that ever before???)! "I'm going off the rails on a crazy train," he sings/screams. (and a bunch of other lyrics I didn't understand because well, I was in an MRI and he was kind of screaming) You see the reason was that the MR...
Post a Comment
Read more

I had to use a calculator

I have been living with MS since 1992 - I used the calculator on my phone to determine that it's 29 years (because unlike the man pictured above my math skills are lacking). That's a long time and you don't need to be mathematically inclined to come to that conclusion. And when first diagnosed, my neurologist declared that with all the research he believed a cure was imminent likely 'within five years'. that would mean that we would have had the cure 24 years ago. We don't. So I am grateful I didn't wager any money on Dr. Wiley's prediction.  But what we do have, instead of a cure, is a plethora of pharmaceuticals to help stem this disease's progression and help us live fuller lives, longer. I am happy for that but am also curious and a tad skeptical because these drugs cost a person living with MS a lot of money and pharma has no financial incentive to search for the cure when they can keep us living less gimpy lives for many years reliant on their ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Now it looks like Christmas!

It's a snow globe out there! Only, with a real snow globe the snow eventually settles and the globe becomes clear. Not here though - the snow keeps falling and falling and falling. I'm sure that my Mom in Arizona is watching the weather channel and seeing this as a Ziggy-cloud of snow over the Piggins' house. A repeat of last winter and the one before that! Right now, I don't mind the snow so much. It's beautiful to look at from the warmth of my home. And it muffles sound, creating a greater sense of peace like we're wrapped in a blanket of snow. And here's a real bonus, it's looking like Christmas and since I still haven't taken down my tree or decorations I can almost fool myself that it's okay that I procrastinated! Today, I will look at my lighted Christmas tree, put a fire in the fireplace, sit on the couch with my 80-pound lap dog and read a book. My snow story will take on a much different tone in a few weeks when it still hasn't...
Post a Comment
Read more