My brain is having trouble adjusting to this whole walking thing.
Thursday night we went to a friend’s clarinet recital in Denver. We found the place, we parked, we walked up to the door. The concert was being held in a small art gallery, with one large step into the building and then a full flight of stairs up to the gallery. I started hyperventilating, and then I realized that I could just walk up the steps.
I’ve got a couple of short trips coming up, and thinking through the logistics, I realized that I need a smallish cross-body shoulder bag, like a messenger bag (I hate wearing a backpack) to use as luggage, since it’s hard to carry anything large/heavy using crutches. I went to REI and found a nice bag. I could fit my computer in here, I thought, and a couple of changes of clothes, and my wheelchair tools, and my tire pump…tire pump? By definition, if I’m using this bag, I’m walking, and don’t need a tire pump.
(My husband and several friends have talked me out of this idea of going on a 4 day business trip without the wheelchair. “Face it,” a friend said, “If you don’t take the wheelchair, and you need the wheelchair, you’re screwed!”)
