Last night,
we went to the Saturday mass instead of our regular Sunday mass at 5:00 PM. We sat a row back from the designated crip
section in the front of the side section, because the altar server bench was in
said regular spot to make room for the annual nativity scene that’s been there
as far back as I can remember (We moved to Texas when I was six, I’m 41 now.).
There were four or five altar servers this mass, which is about the norm. I thought nothing of it. Yeah, the younger ones are cute in their
oversized robes, but I’m not there for some pedophilia jollies. I’m there to be one with God and learn from
the priest, who’s interpreting the Word from his perspective. Joey leaned over to me to draw my attention
to the altar server closest to us. He was
a boy we'd never seen, which is nothing new. A different mass, a different set of altar
servers. What caught her eye and then our
attention was the boy had double cochlear implants. Cochlear implants are surgically implanted
electronic devices that provide a sense of sound to a person, who is profoundly
deaf or severely hard of hearing in both ears.
I’d heard of one being used, but this kid had two, which meant he had
two hearing aids with two antennae attached to either side of his head…of course,
with two receivers inside his head.
I know I
talk about not staring at crips, but I couldn't help myself...this kid was
fascinating.
This got me
thinking about adaptive aids. Yeah,
everybody sees our wheelchairs. I’ve got
a Permobil M300 with tilt, recline seating and a Roho cushion to sit on, and
Joey has a Permobil F3 with tilt, reclining seating and a J Active cushion to
sit on…and, she HATES it. She was duped
into getting the newest chair on the market for the time instead of going with
her instincts to get a chair like mine, which is a mid-wheel as opposed to her
front-wheel. You can’t miss us.
Behind the
scenes, and our friends and family that have been to our house see these
things, we each have a reacher to help pick things up from the floor or that
are just out of our reach. The ones we
have are old school, so they’re made of metal to last. They have a lever attach to a string that
opens and closes the pincers the amount of squeezing. You say, why do you each have your own. Easy, Joey doesn’t like mine, because she
says it’s too easy to squeeze. Hers was
my brother’s, the force it takes to squeeze it is a little more.
I also have
a rolling potty/shower chair. Joey
doesn’t need it, because she’s able to transfer herself. I have a catheter to pee. Joey doesn’t need one. TMI, maybe, but I don’t shy away from
life. I hope my readers don’t either. Anyhoo, since Joey and I have different
cripnesses, we have different things we use to get shit done.
We even use
our mouths differently. I always use my
mouth as a third hand. Joey will
sometimes, but not as much. One thing we
both have is a hospital bed. We’ve
pushed them together to make, essentially, a king-size bed. Even then, I have a special mattress on my
side, because I’m prone to get sores.
Joey has an eggcrate over her mattress.
And, we
don’t necessarily need special silverware to feed our faces; although, rounded
handles are easier to maneuver, at least for me, with our overhand hold. Joey also prefers straws to drink out of in
case she gets startled.
Wow, who
would’ve thought seeing a kid in church could open MY eyes to life.
Bravo, Kid, I give you a standing O and bow to
you.
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