Rolling With The Changes

My poor wife. She's been wanting us to take a family trip to San Francisco for years. I've always been the whiner who said "Too cold!" This year when it came to planning a summer getaway, she just went ahead and did all the research, and proclaimed, "We're going."

Then the ankle incident (see my previous post.)

After days of talking it through, and once a hard cast was put on, we decided to be stupid and vacation in one of the hilliest cities in the country.

Let me just say that anybody who is in, or cares for someone in a wheelchair, you have my utmost respect. It's a whole different world. Escalators, cabs, planes, theaters, sidewalks, crosswalks and restaurants all require that additional planning that only temporarily or permanently disabled people can relate to.

But it was the reaction of the people around us that was the most different. Even though most people were trying their best to be nice, many people treated my wife as if her IQ had dropped 20 points. I noticed some people talking louder and slower to her. Then people would either yank their kids out of the way as if the wheelchair was a runaway train, or they would take over the wheelchair ramps on foot causing us to dodge out of their way. It was all very interesting.

Also the dynamic within our group changed. I remember back in the day how great it was when our daughter became old enough to sit in the front passenger seat of our car. It changed everything. Being in a wheelchair has the opposite effect. So as often as I could, (when we found the rare level ground in San Francisco) I would push the wheelchair with one hand while walking on the side of the chair so we could talk without Fran having to do a Linda Blair "Exorcist" move with her neck.

Not to be a pessimist, but more of a realist, this is probably a glimpse of life down the road. At some point we sit down and don't get to stand up again. But it doesn't really change who you are, just how you get there.