The Walker

I have been planning on buying shoes for 3 weeks, but illness stood in the way of shoe happiness. Yesterday, Dennis and I ventured out to my favorite shoe store. We returned with 3 new pairs for me and a new TV for him. No, he did not buy the TV at the shoe store, but after finding the perfect black pair of heels, I just had to bring him to Best Buy.

Yes, shoes make me happy, but Dennis made me even happier yesterday, by using his walker.

There are a few reasons using the walker makes me smile. The first is purely selfish in nature. The walker weighs about 120 pounds less than the wheel chair. When he takes the wheel chair, I lift 300 pounds getting it in and out of the car, for each stop we make. If we make 3 stops, that adds up to 900 pounds, plus 300 pounds for the beginning and end of each trip out of the house. The walker, weighing in at 30 pounds, saves me 960 pounds of lifting! That is so close to 1/2 ton, that it makes me weary simply thinking about such weight.

The second reason is about Dennis, not me. It's simply good for him to walk as often as possible. When he takes his wheel chair, even when he uses it as a walker, he always can opt out of staying on his own two feet. When he walks, he feels more independent, he gets a good workout and he stretches out those leg muscles.

So, Saturday was a happy day for both of us. I found some great shoes, he bought a new TV for his games and we both came home feeling good about the day out on the town.

Until later,
Ann and Dennis