Aint No Mountain High Enough

That’s what I would like to think! The truth is, is that I have my limits; a sore spot for me. I enjoyed having my freedom before the chair. I was just remembering a trip while convalescing at the rehab center in Scottsdale. As part of the therapy, they took a few of us wheelers to teach us how to live life in a chair. We went to the Phoenix Zoo. That was a bad place for me and a real eye opening experience. If you have ever been there, walking around it can be quite fun, (until you look at it through the eyes – or aching shoulder muscles - of a wheeler.) Seventy-two miles of hills that are at a 30% uphill grade, that’s the good part. The bad part it’s uphill both ways. I have found a way to overcome this problem, however, his name is Chad. He provided much need propulsion this last time we went, and what a difference it was! I was able to enjoy the view more because I didn’t have to worry about the next hill.

Some nearby hills I have found another way to get around. Here I am being lifted up in to a trailer to help my father-in-law fix a computer problem. It was quite an easy fix. I just had to restart his computer equipment. The very same ones he had restarted a dozen times - I guess he didn’t hold his mouth just right like I did. My father-in-law works for the local community college here. He teaches a heavy equipment class. I have been taking some classes there (not in heavy equipment, obviously.) When I went and registered and looked at the campus, I thought, no problem – the terrain is flat - I can do this. Then most of my classes ended up being at a different location, where I saw my zoo nightmare of so many years earlier. It didn’t matter where my classes were; I had to go uphill to get to either them or my van. Never could I park in the handicap parking on the same level as my class - grrr. However, the lessons I learned at the zoo years earlier have helped me cope with this minor setback. Now when life tells me I can’t, I say, “Maybe your right, but it won’t stop me from living my life.”