Lego - A Good Idea

We are headed off to Edmonton, to my brother Jim's place, Adam, Katherine and I. It will be about a 4 hour drive to get to Jim's 80 acre site north of Edmonton, a drive that will take us up the middle of Alberta, through Red Deer and north, through Fort Saskatchewan. It should be a wonderful drive.

This will be a three day excursion, with us returning here on Sunday night. I'm hoping for Internet. Jim has a connection, but remote connections are always difficult. There are other difficulties too. This trip sees me taking my commode chair, my power wheelchair, my manual chair, plus a cot, a sleeping bag, and all my regular travel gear. It's a full load.

The wheelchairs have become so central to my life these days that I can neither imagine nor remember what it is like to live without them. I have this love/hate relationship with my chairs. They immeasurably improve my quality of life, giving me a range of mobility and freedom which would otherwise be lost to me.

Recently I saw a Lego figure in a wheelchair. I was quite captured by it, by the idea that someone in a wheelchair would be normal enough that Lego would make it a staple of their collection. I decided I would like to give one of these figures to each of my children and to each of my grandchildren. That's a total of 8 figures. Then I started thinking about the potential for future grandchildren, so I decided that 15 would cover all future possibilities.

It's kind of cool to think about it, that a grandchild possibly born after I die, or perhaps even a great-grandchild, might get this memento of me, long after my life has ended. So I sent an email to Lego. They will give me the figures for free, but would prefer that I purchase the wheelchairs. To purchase 15 wheelchairs, with the figures, it will cost me $115.00 plus another $5.00 for shipping and handling.

My only concern is that this might be USD, which would mean a 30% increase. Nonetheless, it seems like a very special idea, a very special way for my children, and their children, and perhaps their children's children, to remember that I was once here, that I once lived. I think I am going to do this. It just seems like a good idea.