Walking Spirit

This past weekend was the French Market at St. Joan of Ark. The Catholic church that's two blocks away from my parents house. Renee, in her quest to keep me challenged, thought it would be a good opportunity for me to take my first steps in public. The french market is outdoors in the church parking lot with great music (for the most part, there was a tenor who managed to clear the area out a bit), lots of food, good wine, and what seemed like thousands of people. Everyone had on sandals and I was more worried about smashing someones toes with my crutches than I was of falling on the asphalt!

However, at the risk of smashing toes I did walk. It was a bit scary and I wasn't able to walk as far as I usually do. There were a lot of people around so there was quite a bit of stopping and standing while waiting for others to pass. For a first attempt at walking on uneven ground with crowds aroundit went well. A few of the kids around stared and I occasionally heard comments like "Mommy, his legs aren't real!". Don't worry, that doesn't bother me, infact I usually get a smile and a laugh out of it.

There's a little girl at church who, the first time I went to church after the accident, asked me where my legs were. I told her what had happened and she was visibly concerned. This past Sunday she was in the entry when I walked into the church. The smile on her face when she saw me walking made my day. Later, when the kids went to children's worship she even gave me a little wave as she went passed me in the aisle.

I'll be honest, walking is hard. It makes my back ache, I sweat, and true control is difficult. Not being able to fully straighten my left hip continues to prevent me from really balancing. I know that, in time, these things will improve. Consider all of that and then add other people to the mix. What makes it worthwhile is the comments of encouragement I get from others, even perfect strangers. So, this is the next step in therapy, walking in public.