Our Challenges

I’ve written often about my maternal grandmother who had polio as a child and spent her last 30 plus years cleaning, ironing, cooking, entertaining, living from a wheelchair.

Today, I’m experiencing the realities of her existence forever viewing the world at countertop level.

Admittedly, she measured 6 feet in height, but from the wheelchair her focus was on the water flowing out of a faucet instead of the leaves changing colors out of her kitchen window if she were standing.

It’s not just the visionary challenges she faced but try brushing your teeth and attempting to hit the sink with the frothy residue from a distance of 12-15 inches, hoping desperately you can get close enough that most of the liquid doesn’t land in your lap.

We won’t talk about getting into and out of a bathtub projecting your body from the bathroom entrance across the commode and then lifting yourself with your upper body and tossing your useless legs over the rim of the tub to soak your exhausted carcass in the now frigid water.

Showers were not part of the original floor plans in this 75-year-old house, and doorways didn’t easily accommodate cane back wheelchairs.

Thank goodness she was tall because the ironing board was built into a wall and was not adjustable, but she managed to iron sheets, starched shirts, dresses and undies without having to reach up too high to see if she had scorched anything.

What is not to like living in a wheelchair? All this is noting why I’m gaining admiration for this woman who never complained about her limitations. Or if she did, I wasn’t privy to her outrage, tears of frustration, and resentment for being the chief and only cook and dishwasher.

I’ve never been known for my upper body strength. Truth be told, I’ve never been known for any body strength, but one has to gain a bit of muscle just getting yourself around the house misdirecting your wheelchair, learning to turn around without marring the walls you back into, and bandaging your bloody knuckles caught between the door frame and the wheel.

It reminds me my life is better than if I had been born 150 years ago rather than 83 years ago. Oh gosh, what will today’s babies think about the challenges they missed when they look back 83 years from now? They will be living in space on another planet and not have to worry about ironing, cooking or wheelchairs. That will be a life without any body strength and no wishes for the ‘good old days.’