Two hands & Two feet

My Busia (Grandmother in Polish) had severe rhuemotoid arthritis most of her life. My dad was seven when she was diagnosed. I never saw her walk and rarely saw her sitting on her own. By the time I was born she could not sit unsupported. She lay most of the day in a bed next to a large window. Dzia-Dzia (Grandfather in Polish) hung birdfeeders outside her window and she loved to tell us about the types of birds that visited her each day. I loved visiting her because she spent endless hours with me. Dzia-Dzia set up a tray that crossed her lap and I would sit on her bed across from her. I wrote stories and she illustrated them. We watched television together, played school, wrote and illustrated each other's masterpieces, and at night Dzia-Dzia would give us each homemade chocolate pudding in soda fountain glasses.

I was very aware of Busia's adaptive equipment. As a five year old I found it really neat and useful. Busia let me have fun with it. She gave me rides on her bed- we would go up and down on it like we were on an elevator. I watched Dzia-Dzia transfer her to her wheel chair anytime she wanted to get out of the room or when we went to church Saturday nights. Dzia-Dzia drove a van with awheel chair lift. That too was fun because they would let me ride up and down on it with Busia. Busia had fluffy lambs wool pieces to tuck under her ankles and joints to prevent bed sores. Sometimes her heels and feet would look very very painful and purple. My parents joke because they wonder what Busia would say if she knew I was to become a therapist. She didn't enjoy her own therapy sessions all that much. Perhaps you could go as far as say she hated them. Understandably. Therapy = pain sometimes.

I am thinking about her as speakers & guests pass through our classes. We have already had a woman with a partial arm amputation come & talk to us. I never realized how difficult it is to put on rings and jewelry with only one hand. Society is designed for two healthy hands. Society is made for healthy bodies- although it is improving. My job will be to transition, adapt, and educate those who cannot function "normally" in a society for two hands, two feet, and a working central nervous system. I am a little nervous because it is such a large task. But I am excited and ready and I am hoping for the best. Back to my physics book...