Joe's The (Older) Man

Happy Birthday!! Today is the beginning of a unique month long period. Today Joe becomes one year older than me. Until my birthday in December, when we become the same age again, I get to be the Boy Toy, the trophy bride. Joe bears up remarkably well with this, but then, he's older, wiser and very much more tired.

We have little planned the new wheelchair arrives between 9 and 10, I'm dreading what's coming through the door and simply hope it's usable. It ended up being such a frustrating experience, my need for grey, not black, tire rubber has ended up costing me so much money. But you've got to do what you've got to do. And what I do, in situation's like this, is pretend that everything is OK until everything is OK - then I can cry. May not seem like much of a strategy but it's incredibly successful.

Yesterday was cool because I was able to go out for tea and then grocery shopping with Joe and then send him home. Me and my power chair took off and wandered from store to store shopping for presents. I am a born shopper so I was in my element. I had to ask for help a few times but people were kindly and I managed to get what I wanted without too much frustration.

I liked being out alone, knowing that Joe was comfortably at home. I liked being able to do things for him, without needing something from him. The power chair has made it possible for me to really surprise him with the gifts I've picked up. It was nice buying something placing it into my shopping sack and smiling thinking of his reaction to the gift. This morning, later on, we'll do the gift thing. If it isn't raining, we'll go for a beer. If it's raining, I'm sure we can keep ourselves busy.

I've lived with Joe for 71.42 percent of my life - and he still has 100 percent of my heart.