This morning we dropped off four huge bags of non-perishable food items for Food for Life. A big thank you to Jen Nootbaar for donating tons of items to help hungry families. We’ve been so blessed with the kindness and generosity of others, we felt this was a small, simple thing to do to give back. We all have a few items in our kitchens that have been gathering dust for too long, uneaten for whatever reason. Why not give that perfectly good food to people who need it? We don’t have much to give now, but just doing that little bit really felt good. It felt like a small step toward “giving back”, a natural response after all that’s been given to us. We’ll probably be working our entire lifetimes in order to get even with what’s been donated to us. That’s okay. We’ll start now and move slow.
Nick was pretty sore today after being up for so long yesterday, so he decided to make it a football watching day, parked on the couch. At each quarters’ end he got up to practice walking. But toward the end of the day, Nick was itching to get his blood really flowing. He wanted to go to the gym on his own if he could physically load and unload his own wheelchair into the car. Of course! That’s a fabulous idea. What’s particularly exceptional about this, is that the idea came from within him. His drive to, well, drive, and be independent is breathtaking. He wants his life back so bad.
I helped get him ready to go, and he loaded up the car and took off. He sat in the drivers seat and leaned over to break down the wheelchair, lifting each piece across his chest into the back seat. The intense pride I felt watching him back down the driveway, on his own, was so rewarding. He’s going to make it in this big, cruel world after all. I never doubted it, but it just seemed so far away. Until now. This doesn’t make him completely independent yet, but pretty close. It’s clear now that the sheer strength and flexibility required of him to bend and twist and lift to get his chair in the car is something he’s only just developed since starting with his trainer at the gym. There’s no way he could have done that a month ago. His torso was too weak. Not anymore though. We are brimming over with excitement at what’s to come. I couldn’t imagine being any more pleased with how life is going right now.
Nick Fener 