Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Look out!

Even when I could walk, I walked with my eyes on the ground.

I remember walking into a big column when I was going to see Camelot at one of my siblings' high school. It was my high school, too, but not then.

When I was trying to learn hand controls so I could keep driving after FA rendered my legs unreliable, the instructor kept telling me to watch where I was going not where I was.

It didn't help much because no matter where I was watching, my arm muscles are spastic and almost as unreliable as my legs. I think he learned this when we were on a busy street in D.C, with four lanes going our way. I was in one of the left lanes when my hand steered more than intended and shot us straight across into the far right lane. Thankfully, there were no cars coming then and there was a parking lot I made it to before collapsing. That was the day I stopped thinking I could use hand controls.

When I ride horses these days, the hardest thing to do is look ahead, not look at my hands.

When I am out with Claren, I look down so I can chat with her.

Perhaps then what is most surprising about the posts in front of my building is that I have never run into them ... until today.

Luckily, Dad shouted at me and I stopped right as the post slid past my front wheel and just kissed my knee.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is an inherited disorder that has nothing to do with FA. I watched from my car the other day as Callie walked right at a bench that she walks by every day. She skipped aside at the last minute. Also, the Trott woman drift, as the husbands call it, wherein we can't walk next to anyone without cutting them off.
JTG

Matt said...

Wait, I get FA; the women get this drift. How fair is that?


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