I live in an assisted living facility. My room is roughly 10’ x 12’, but it has a
charming kitchenette, complete with dorm-size refrigerator and a
microwave. Friends have donated a
toaster oven and a crock pot.
I have multiple sclerosis (MS) and am in an electric
wheelchair, but not just any electric wheelchair – the Cadillac of
wheelchairs! I was very blessed to get
this chair, bought for me by Blue Cross/Blue Shield while I was still working,
before my Medicaid days. My job was
teaching biology to freshmen college students while working on my Ph.D. in
neurobiology.
Before receiving my diagnosis of MS I was training for a
mini-triathlon. I was/am extremely
overweight, but I was determined to meet that goal. About every other day I would run, bike, or
swim. One day I swam a mile nonstop in
the lap pool; the next week I needed a cane to walk. A few months later I was on a walker, and
within the year I was in a wheelchair.
A few years ago I asked my physical therapist (a wonderful,
enthusiastic woman), “If I work really, really hard do you think someday I
could complete a mini-triathlon (emphasis on “mini”!) She looked at me like I was crazy and shook
her head “no”. At that time I could walk
fairly comfortably about 120 feet with a walker; now, MAYBE 60 feet, very, very
slowly and with great effort. I would
still love to finish a mini-triathlon, well perhaps a mini mini-triathlon - am
I allowed designing my own parameters of this triathlon? ;-)
Actually there are parathriathons perhaps that will be my best
option.
Another dream of mine is to live a life of self-sufficiency,
provident living as my church calls it.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or
Mormon.) We are encouraged to have
gardens, build up a year’s supply of food, water, and other necessities. Many of the women in our church, especially
in my ward (congregation), which is in a quite rural part of Texas also quilt and sew their own
clothes. If I could, I would love to
live off-the-grid and be as self-sufficient as possible.
Of course, since I’m in an assisted living facility that is
impossible, and of course I would no longer even be expected to have a food
supply or a garden, but this type of lifestyle intrigues me so much that my
heart still pulls me in that direction. I
have begun planning creative lighting and space-saving indoor gardening
features. I have only one window, which
faces north, so light is an issue – and space?
THAT is really going to be a challenge, but one I am confident I can
concur!
So this is the purpose of my blog - to chronicle my journey
to live my dreams; despite a disability and limited resources. It CAN be done!
