A number of guys work with me. Jesse is my “main man” but a bunch of different guys work with us. One of the guys who has been working with me for a while is named Adam. I call him Phil. I am not really sure why I call him that, but I do. He doesn’t seem to mind. He laughs that I call him this without a problem. Phil and Chris (an intern who no longer works there) were working out my legs and stretching me on a table. They take turns with either one of my legs. When they are not working with me; they sit in my wheelchair because I am on the table. It was September 30, 2013 when Phil asked if we (Chris and me) saw that Guinness commercial with the wheelchairs. I hadn’t so Phil pulls it up on his phone. I am laying on the table as Chris is stretching me out and I watch the commercial. Being in a wheelchair and having been for a while, I feel my eyes well up with tears because I am effected by the commercial. It is a GREAT commercial! Almost makes me want to drink Guinness. I was wearing mascara that day so I had to carefully wipe away the tears that were threatening to fall out of my eyes. I may not have been fast enough in wiping my right eye. Phil says, “Aww! You’re crying! Aww!” I tell him emphatically that I am not and I am a little bit embarrassed because I really was crying – almost.
My favorite story regarding Phil is one where it was a Wednesday. Jesse had already deemed it “Walking Wednesday” and I am not sure what the weather was like (it affects me). For example, my legs hurt more and are more stiff in the rain. I was a little bit stiff and since it was Wednesday, I would be walking so I looked at Phil and said “warm it up Kris.” He looked at me questioningly and said, “I’m not Chris.” I laughed! Now, Phil is only 23 years old. I am 31 like Jesse (but I AM older than him by a month and a half). I explained to Phil that in the early ’90s there was a rap duo named Kris Kross. I was explaining what they sang and I told Jesse, “warm it up, Kris” as he is walked by and he says “I’m about to” and I come back with, “warm it up, Kris” and he says, “that’s what I was born to do.” I looked at Phil as if to say, “see?!” He shakes his head and jokingly says that he is not old like me and Jesse.
On October 7, 2013 I had training. I do not keep my phone on me so when I was done (and SO tired) I checked my phone for messages. I get a text that my son was transported to the ER from football practice. I look at Phil and ask if he can get me to the car. FAST! He pushes my chair out to my car and I stand up and scramble into my car. He gets my chair into my car topper so I can leave quickly. I race to the ER where I think he is. I’m almost there when my Mom calls to tell me he is at a different ER. I have to back track but I get there. He got a concussion at practice and was not immediately coherent. Once everything is finally taken care of, my son is okay, and I have a second to breathe. I realize how tired my legs are. I had to explain to Phil that I was powered by pure maternal adrenaline. That was why I got into my car so quickly. It wasn’t because I wasn’t giving my ALL at training. He refers to that day as “the day I got up and walked to my car.” I’ll do ANYTHING for my son!
Here is a picture of Phil. He didn’t want me to take it. On this day, it was a Monday and I wore these socks because I didn’t match the socks I just washed the night before. It was obvious these socks matched so I grabbed them. Larry told me that it looks like I have “Lollipop Kid” socks on.