Hearts & Flowers

We are new to having a child in a wheelchair.  There were some immediate and obvious challenges to manage, and there were a few that were surprising.  My sister got us a ramp for the front door.  HUGE help!  Greg and I were just throwing some muscle into it and getting the chair up and down the step as smoothly as possible.  Our older son Scott moved Tate’s shelves and dresser to make enough room to get the wheelchair into his room.  The entry into his room is very narrow due to how the room is designed, and it was not possible to get his wheelchair in without re-arranging some very heavy furniture.

One of the less obvious challenges that presented itself were the hedges on both sides of our front walkway.  They scratched Tate’s arms when we pushed his chair between the house and the car, and there was no way he could wheel himself along without brushing against the branches.

On Labor Day our wonderful friends helped remove the hedges, dig up the roots, and replace all the plants!  A project that would have taken me a few weekends to complete got done in a single day with their help and hard work.  They also repaired our sprinkler system, pulled an embarrassing amount of weeds, and brought a delicious ketogenic breakfast.

We planted Hearts & Flowers, Mandevilla, and Gladiolas along the walkway where the hedges had been.  There isn’t a “before” picture, so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you this is a big improvement.  The flowers are so pretty, and when he’s strong enough, Tate will be able to wheel himself without getting cut and poked.

There was a point in this day when the irony was almost more than I could take.  Vincrisitne, the drug that put Tate in a wheelchair, is made from the periwinkle, a hardy, pretty flower.  When we walked into the Home Depot garden center, there were periwinkles everywhere.  Periwinkles of every color covered several tables, they were arranged in pots, they were available in hanging planters.  Periwinkles as far as the eye could see.

Just no.

More no.

I am so grateful to the Buchanans for their lighthearted, hard work and for steering me away from panic-inducing flowers at Home Depot.  Not only is our house safer for Tate with the hedges gone, it is serene and more beautiful.  The only outside Tate experiences right now is the path from the front door to the car when we going to and returning from appointments; he does not have energy for much more.  I am so grateful that what he now sees when he is outside is a beautiful space.