Out and About

Maggie finished summer school on Friday. That means I have to find some way to keep her entertained every day for the next month. The nurse still comes in the afternoon, but generally, Maggie stays at home when the nurse is here. Therefore, I need to find activities and outings for the mornings or Maggie will not get out at all.

It really doesn't matter what we do, it's just breaking up the monotony of the day. We will have some fun outings and some not so fun. Some days we are meeting up with her former (sob) teacher to go for a walk and keep Maggie sharp for her transition to high school. (fun) Some of those days will be taken up with medical appointments.(not fun) Today is both. Maggie has some tests at the hospital late this afternoon. We had already planned a walk with Teacher Joe at noon and we are staying that course. Maggie has to go without food all day before getting anesthesia, so keeping her entertained is VERY important today.

Yesterday we had a different kind of outing. I offered to take my aunt to Trader Joes. Maggie loves to shop and I figured that would be fun for her and get the shopping done at the same time. That means a ride downtown, interacting with my aunt and spending time in Trader Joes with its music and brightly colored signs. This particular Trader Joes is near Fisherman’s Wharf, so there are lots of interesting people around too.

You may recall my aunt recently moved home from the assisted living facility. Despite the move, she still needs assistance. She is still regaining strength and her walking is still shaky. Of course SHE doesn’t think she needs assistance, which makes things more difficult. It wasn’t until I awoke on Tuesday morning, perhaps three hours before the scheduled trip that I realized I could not do all of this alone. How could I get her through the grocery store while pushing Maggie’s chair and pulling the basket. I would not have any way to assist her; both arms would be engaged. I called her to see if we were still on and was very relieved when, before I could even say a word, she suggested she bring her walker. Yes! That is an excellent idea.

When we arrived at the store, she considered leaving the walker in the car and relying on the store basket. Noooo. Let’s go with Plan A. I parked in a handicapped spot – never in my life feeling more justified in using it. In fact, I could have honestly taken two and felt ok about that. The wheelchair lift needs some repairs – things that are supposed to work automatically currently require manual control. It’s no big deal but it probably takes and extra minute or so to get out of the car. I was running around the car to release the wheelchair lock and wondered if Auntie was swaying or if that was my imagination. Thank God for that walker.

As you would expect, the handicapped parking spot is very close to the entrance. However, it is even closer to the exit. Hence, that was the door for her. I had to go through the entrance with Maggie and open the exit doors so she could enter. I am still not sure why. She went up and down the aisles of the store, albeit slowly, but she would not walk the five steps to the entrance.
We shopped. People gawked. But really, who could blame them. We were a sight. The older woman with the walker, the middle-aged woman pulling the basket and pushing the wheelchair, stopping ever 30 seconds or so to suction the child in the chair, and Maggie, who was quietly taking the whole scene in.

For some reason a line from “You’ve Got Mail” played in my head. Tom Hanks, a 40-year-old man, is in Meg Ryan’s bookstore with two young children who turn out to be his uncle and his sister. He tries to explain this to Meg Ryan’s’ character and in pure Tom Hanks fashion sums up the situation with a toss of the head and a smile and a clever statement. That statement also summed up our situation today.

We Are … An American family.