Jesus, take the wheel.....please!

“Jesus Take the wheel” please!

 June 5, 2012

by terence

Not many things scare me.  I’ve been through three years of poking and prodding, transfusions and chemo as well as a plethora of so many other procedures that are not so pleasant.  Renal failure was close and quite frankly having a urologist surgeon shove a catheter up my troubled urethra was traumatic and emotional- but never have I been fearful. Until recently.

Last Saturday was Gig Harbor’s Maritime festival.  Our grandchildren were in the parade and had a booth so Sherry and I were determined to attend regardless of how I was feeling.

Here I am safely parked and enjoying my lemonade.

Let me start the story by admitting that we are wheel chair ‘virgins’- not having any experience outside of hospital facilities where everything is flat and wheel chair friendly.   This community event was big enough to where I couldn’t walk so Sherry would need to wheel me around. 
We located a parking space. Since all roads were closed for the parade we parked several blocks away... only then realizing the festival was ‘slightly’ down hill.

I got into the wheel chair while Sherry prepared man the reigns…. I surveyed the road ahead and it looked  it was going to be a carnival ride/obstacle course. Only then did I briefly wonder about Sherry's "driver personality".  Sherry, not aware of my “reluctance” was busy navigating  the hill, people on the left and right and a large storm drain dead center on the sidewalk.  She maneuvered to the left but not far enough, leaving me to have to slump down in the chair and push my foot down on the grate to avoid a major spill (no seat belts in this thing).

Sherry (still not aware of my dilemma), continued to traverse the sidewalk and people defending herself against my ‘backseat’ driving.  My heart was racing…I was sure I’d be facing a painful topple or worse, attached to a run away wheel chair.

Fear had definitely set in and I quickly managed to locate the brakes on the wheel chair and began to ‘help’ Sherry on this downhill obstacle course. Once she realized I was using the brakes she  felt I was counter acting her attempts to safely drive the wheel chair  and ‘told me so’ (!).

 The closer we got to the pavilion the thicker the populace became and my voice grew louder  because  Sherry was busy zigging and zagging  trying to find her way through the crowd, jarring my back eventually colliding with a little boy  (unbeknownst to her) who was attempting to buy a snow cone.  Moving on and passing the Navajo Taco stand Sherry’s voice became louder than mine as she attempted to tell me to “relax, and stop telling me how to drive this thing!”.  

At this point a beautiful golden retriever appeared who was faithfully following his owner...I envisioned the wheel chair taking him out so I firmly and appropriately used the only appendage available to me and stuck my foot out and kicked the dog out of my way hoping to avoid a full on ‘collision’ all the while Sherry still telling me not to worry because  she had 

“everything under control”.

Finally we made it to the giant pirate ship where our grand kids were anxiously waiting. They ran off to discover the wonders of a maritime day while I sipped my fresh lemonade content to be ‘parked’ under a tree.

Sherry made it through the adventure with a strained back still completely unaware of the little “fender benders” and I came away with a lesson of overcoming fear; not of cancer, but of a feeling of loss of control!

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and a sound mind” 2 Timonthy 1:7