Barton standing at our wedding.
This morning, I got Barton up extra early (4:30am) as he has an interview in Greensboro (keeping my fingers crossed). As Barton did his early morning standing and walking across the living room floor, he asked me to tighten the screws on his foot petals. Why? We know all too well how Barton can come home with big clunks of metal in his briefcase. At least he has found someone to pick up the foot petal or whatever has fallen off when he’s out and about.
When Barton got his stander/walker just after we were married- it came in a huge box with many pieces of metal, screws, plastic covers, and a book of instructions. We spread the pieces all over the floor, and not being engineering inclined, I poured over the instructions. How was it that Barton told me to throw out the instruction manual and include a piece here, don’t use this piece here. I was in tatters trying to follow his logic, but it was exactly what he wanted.
Since that time, I have learned the ins and outs of wheelchair repair and the challenges of wheelchairs on the road. Barton is definitely a road warrior. He’ll come home with stories of his bus catching on fire, getting lost trying to take a shortcut, walking in a thunderstorm in the winter, buses not working. Running out of battery when he was taking me out on a date night. And the infamous times when we broke Barton’s wheelchair, you know, the old fashioned way.
You name it- he has been through it. What would we do without duct or electrical tape? We would truly be lost.
I used to fret and worry when Barton’s out on the road- okay- I still do, but as long as he comes home in one pieces (or carrying all the pieces), I’m happy.
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