A New Experience

If you have read the blog post of the poem Gumption and Gusto to go through the Goo, you'll know we have had to push Moncia's wheelchair through snow and slush. Lately it has been much more often though.
Apparenlty, the cold winter has destroyed the ability of the battery to hold a charge. We had to call our friendly neighborhood volunteer firefighter down the street one day to go fetch her when neither Dave nor I were home and we've had our next door neighbour who often walks with Monica while she walks the dog push her back from a block or so away, and we've often been called to pick her up from somewhere in the neighbourhood when the battery dies.
We finally were able to get her a whole new battery so hopefully that part of the goo will be gone for a while.

But, don't' relax!

Last evening, around 8:30 p.m., as Dave, Anna-Lee and I were bopping down Carp Road on our way home from ballet we get a call from Monica. 
" Where are you! I'm stuck in the basement - the elevator got me down but it stops after about 6 inches and I can't back get up!"

We got home, and sure enough, no go. So, Anna-Lee brought up the manual chair, Dave carried  Monica up the stairs, but that left the small detail of getting her chair up the stairs. Her 400 pound chair! Do we call the firefighters again? - read Monica's blog! 

Instead, Dave called our friend who put in the elevator (he's become a friend over the years as he also does work on our wheelchair van) - he'll be by later this afternoon to put in a new battery, but of course that doesn't help Monica have her power chair for this morning. Next on the list was calling another friend a few minutes drive away, who we thought might have a battery charger that could give it an immediate boost. Indeed he did. Dave went to get it and got it all set up. It seemed that the battery was completely dead as it wouldn't take the charge. Dave notched it up a bit wondering if he would have to take the car battery out and rig something up. However, he got a quick charge, zipped the elevator with the chair up, and then the battery once again lost it's charge. Phew!

It surely takes our whole community to keep Monica going!