I have officially been cleared to take a few steps on my crutches again.
Three or four, to be exact.
And it is absolutely ridiculous how much three or four steps can change your life.
I don’t mean I’m suddenly walking again. I’m not. I’m still using my wheelchair and scooter for getting around.
But three or four steps are enough to give me back little pieces of normal life.
It’s enough to give me back a bathroom break in more places, a gas pump, a parking space, and a little bit of independence.
I can get off my scooter and take a few steps for a nice picture with my son. (See above.)
I can get out of my driver’s seat and take a few steps to get my wheelchair out of the back of the van.
I can even get from my scooter into the van without having to figure out how to make the entire transfer work while remaining completely seated.
And I can pump gas!
That one sounds ridiculously insignificant until you’ve had to depend on someone else to do it. The last few months have found me gawking almost cannibalistically at pumpers.
And then there’s parking.
When I couldn’t take any steps, I needed enough space beside the driver’s door to get my wheelchair out. Five feet wasn’t a luxury; it was the difference between this parking space works and maybe going back home.
Now I can take three or four steps.
Suddenly I can park in a normal-width space.
Three or four steps doesn’t sound like much.
It has also has changed my perspective for the house hunt.
I’m now willing to consider a two-story house where I could have a chair lift installed to get me upstairs.
Not because three steps means I’m ready to conquer a staircase. I will likely never conquer a staircase due to the stress on my shoulder repair.
It just means I’m starting to think differently about what accessible enough can look like.
So my new unit of mobility is not miles.
It’s three steps.
And I’ll take them.
