Monday, October 4, 2010

What a Difference a Walker Makes!

We put the new walker to the ultimate test on Saturday morning.  Can it do a craft fair?  Short answer:  YES!

I took my mom to our annual Daughters of Hawaii fair, an indoor-outdoor event featuring food, music, and a good selection of mostly upscale artisans and craftspersons.  She loved it.  And could never have done it without the walker.

To be fair, it would not be a good thing to turn her loose totally unsupervised.  There are little bumps like thresholds and fat extension cords and low curbs where it is nice to have someone unobtrusively pick up the front end of the walker to help it over the bump.  Down slopes need control, and up slopes need a little extra pull power.  Grass is not ideal.  Paved surfaces are great.  She would go,go,go -- then sit down to shop at a particular stall.  She could go where ever she wanted, meet people, enjoy being out in the world.

She shopped in "Dale's Attic", the rummage component of our fair.  She bought a bottle of marmalade, a lemon and a lime -- which look identical.  She tried on hats, looked at haku lei, exclaimed over the wiliwili lei made from a brilliant orange-red seed that you don't see much any more.  Maybe because an immigrant bug has killed off a large percentage of the population of wiliwili trees.  She looked at plants, and when I bought my Treasure of the Year (a gold and silver bracelet by Donna Cockett of Kauai, who happens to be married to a cousin), she bought one, too.  Different design, same maker.  I think she bought it because she liked the bracelet.  But she also bought it because the maker is 'ohana.
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By 11:30, she was tired and ready to go home.  But she never would have gotten past Dale's Attic without that walker!

Give thanks for the openness that allows us to swallow our pride and invest in the tools and aids we need to live a full life.
Don't forget to pray!

2 comments:

  1. Leaving Elgin's Sherman Hospital a few months ago, I saw two ladies walking back to the parking lot. The architects of this beautiful (and, IMHO, rather ostentatious) facility apparently intended for pretty much everyone to use the valet service (free, but don't you know the drivers would 'like' (expect?)a tip. Anyway, these two ladies, quite possibly mother and daughter, cut across a large of expanse rather than taking the circuitous sidewalk. The presumed Mother, well along in years, popped her walker from concrete to grass with the greatest of ease---she barely missed a beat!!

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  2. Such a simple tool for your mother's advantage. Yes, it hurts the pride a bit, but that is overcome with the joy of being able to 'go solo.' Hugs to you on a GOOD day time!

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