Walking Spirit

Hello All! I know that I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, and I apologize for that. Raising support for the Bill that bears my name seems to have become my life. In fact I even find myself thinking about what needs to be said, and the best way to say it, when I'm doing other things! So this time I'm going to try to limit it.

If you want to hear what I have to say about the situation with Chrysler and GM, and why the Bill needs support, you can listen to me talk on a YouTube video. Feel free to share the video with others who don't follow this blog. I've also found a site where you can track the Bill's progress and see what committee is going to consider it. From that site you can also see what Representative's are on the committee and find their contact information. If any of them are your Representatives please send them a letter (see side bar) and give them a call.

Now, in addition to this I've been juggling a lot of other things and have allowed myself to get a little stressed. Part of the stress was actually trying to decide about whether or not to go on vacation with Mom, Dad, Sarah, and Madeline. They left on Saturday to go to South Haven, Michigan for a week. It's a beautiful Lake Michigan beach town! When we were kids we went there on a regular basis. It was always one of my favorite places. We spent a week there about a year after the accident and, even though I had a good time, it was emotionally difficult for me.

Having experienced South Haven during my life before the accident made me feel very limited now. For example, I could sit in my wheelchair on the sidewalk by the beach, but I couldn't go on the beach. It's a great town to walk around in but that would require so much energy that I wound up spending more time in the wheelchair than I like, and the town itself isn't very accessible. So, I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to go this year, but I also didn't want to miss the time with Madeline. (ok, the rest of the family too) :)

I was very torn because this time Mom has found a place that rents beach wheelchairs and Mom and Dad are renting a cottage near the beach. Last time we had to stay in separate hotels because their hotel wasn't accessible at all. I think I almost made myself sick last week when I was trying to decide what to do. Ultimately I decided to go, but I was only going to stay for the weekend, because I just have too many things happening to be gone all week. Of course, this was also stressing me out!

The relief finally came when my friend Pantelis (Pete) Koukoutsis (his full name is so much fun to say!) called to remind me that he was coming to visit on Saturday. I had forgotten because we hadn't talked for a long time. This surprise finally made me think outside the box and I decided to stay home for the weekend, get some stuff done on Monday and Tuesday, and then head up to Michigan on Wednesday afternoon. As soon as I decided to do that I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders!

This way I get to spend a couple of days in South Haven with the family and they can get all the "walking around town" stuff done before I get there. Madeline has already called to tell me that there is a candy store that she has to show me. According to her it's like Candy Land but real! I'm still a little uncertain about the beach, but I'm willing to give it a shot. A change in latitude is definitely in order!