I have talked with Chris from Mike’s TED talk a number of times. He leaves training as I am coming in. The first time I talked to him, was after my first time walking. He was talking with another woman and she had seen the video of me walking. She talked to me about that. He was standing and talking with her with a walker (the kind with the wheels in front). I just smiled at both of them and then continued to get ready to start working. It wasn’t until mid-way through my workout Jesse and Adam told me who he was. Really?! He was like a celebrity to me having seen the TED talk so much! I have yet to meet Brock. He works out at the same facility as I do (the one in Plymouth), but I have not seen him. I guess it is kind of like meeting Mickey Mouse at Disney World. DUH! You HAVE to meet him! Mickey Mouse started it all. Brock (and Chris) started this journey for me. I told Jesse that since I have been coming for over 4 months now without seeing him, I think I’m going to have to get his autograph or something!
The next time I saw Chris, he was walking out of Barwis Methods with 2 canes this time as I was wheeling in. We made eye contact and I asked; “so, it is weird?” He furrowed his brow and asked, “is what weird?” I replied, “you know… walking.” He thought for a minute and said it’s great and cool and then he stopped and said, “yeah. It’s weird.” That day in talking with him, it was SO cool to get his perspective on things. He KNOWS what it is like being in a wheelchair, and he KNOWS what it is like getting out of a wheelchair. In later conversations he told me the percentage rates of people in chairs who get out. I can’t remember exactly what he said (I don’t want to misquote him!) but I knew it was in the single digits. He also KNOWS how hard it is! He said that to me. “It’s hard work.” I said that I knew that it was! I told him “I’m kind of over this,” and pointed at my chair. He said I could get out of it and said, “When you take those first steps, it’s WONDERFUL!”
He told me that he got rid of his wheelchair. He gave it away. He didn’t want to look back. It scares me to give my chair away. It has been a HUGE part of my identity for a very LONG time! We’ve talked about difficulties that you face in a chair and I’ve never talked with someone who knows and has faced those SAME difficulties (if not barriers). He knows what it’s like when you can’t reach something or if something “says” it is handicapped accessible. And it’s NOT! MOST times it’s not. It was cool for me to get that perspective from another person who shares (or shared) the same perspective as me. I don’t know what life will be like after this wheelchair. It’s scary. But, I AM working toward that life and it WILL be possible “no question” as Jesse says. I hope I am ready for it when it comes.