Thursday, October 08, 2009

This Chair

It creaks and it moans. Occasionally my heart leaps to my throat in fear. It's gotta just make it a few more days. Just before leaving on this trip I placed an order for a new manuel chair. This one is only a year old but with all the travel, being stuffed in trucks, traveling on planes, manoeuvring over cobblestones, it's already tired.

I'm facing a couple more North American flights and then there's a month overseas. I need to be able to rely on my chair. I was really excited when I placed the order for the chair and I'm pleased to switch to something new that I can rely on. Even so, as we count down the days left on our trip here to California, I am beginning to feel a wee bit of a loss. When I'm in this chair, it's part of me. This chair isn't just a thing, it's got its own personality. It has likes and dislikes. It has a familiarity that is comforting.

And then there are the memories:

Just two days ago I got a standing ovation in Red Bluff while sitting in this chair.

I first held baby Sadie sitting in this chair.

I sat in this chair on the boardwalk on a hot sunny day.

I raced down a huge ramp in Toronto in this chair.

Well, you get the point. There are memories tied up here. And I've got to move along. I've decided to use this chair as my office chair at Vita. It's got lots of 'sit' left and it's wildly comfortable. So, it's just a bit of a slow down.

Maybe I'll send it a post card from London!

(I'm wondering if others develop a bit of an attachment to their mobility devices.)

9 comments:

  1. I hope you make just as many good memories (if not more) made while sitting in your new chair.

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  2. I worked with a gentleman who had a chair for 11 years. I tried for 2 years to convince him to get a new one and he couldn't do to the attachment he had with the chair. So I respected him and we repaired the chair over and over. One day the service man told us that he could not order new parts because they don't make them anymore. So push came to shove and saftey was an issue so finally he got the new chair. After 7-10 days of the arrival of the chair he decided to try it. And we did what you did, I told him to keep the old chair in his room and he uses it when he is using his computer - ONLY - because it is not safe.

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  3. Yes, yes I do feel that attached. I feel most myself when I am in mine now since I'm not in as much pain. I can't get it into relatives' houses and so I stump awkwardly around, getting up and down too much and putting myself in pain.

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  4. MY OLD CHAIRS JUST RETIRE TO THE SHED.
    THE LIVE THERE UNDER THE DUSK COVER.
    I VISIT THEM OFTEN.
    THEY ARE A PART OF MY HISTORY.

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  5. I was attached to my back braces (for scoliosis). I wore them for 10 years growing up, and when I finally didn't need them any more I felt very naked without it. I think I kept them for another 10 years before one of my parents threw them out. At times I do miss them.

    I think we can get attached to anything and everything though. I still have army men from 30 years ago. lol Since I am planning on moving in the spring, I am having to make choices, some of them hard, some of them easy, but I have to condense.

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  6. The Wheeliecrone says - My chair has a motor. And an attitude. She does not like it when I try to do fancy turns, particularly if I try to force her to go in a direction she does not wish to go - she gets her wheels in a knot and refuses. She seems to dislike elevators, who knows why?
    Whatever her whims and whimsies, my chair is the one place where I am comfortable - the one place where I am not in pain. I am very fond of my chair.

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  7. Absolutely yes! Lucy may have her quirks and shortcomings, but we've been through a lot together. When people ask me about replacing her for a newer chair, I get a little offended. For one, Lucy is already pretty top-of-the line, with every bell and whistle I could ask for. I'm not likely to find another chair of equal value, let alone get my insurance to cover it. And mostly, she's my Lucy! She's been a more loyal friend to me than many! :)

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  8. I finally admitted that I needed a scooter, and I have grown very attached to her in just a few months. Ah, the relief from constant pain! I can do so many things with my 8 year old twins that I couldn't anymore, like take walks and go to the zoo. Plus, she's the closest thing to a motorcycle I'm getting as long as my partner has anything to say about it. :)

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  9. Yes! They're like a trusty ponies 8-)

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