Little Things

Little things. The biggest part of the whole ALS challenge is the small stuff.

Yesterday was trivia night. I wanted to go, but ended up staying home because of the weather. The forecast called for thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail. Even as I looked out my window, I could see the rain. For most people this is not an issue. You park close to the pub. You run indoors. You dry off quickly. For me, there is no such thing as run, nor can I park close. I have to park down the block where I can get out of my truck safely. Then I have to make the arduous transfer to my wheelchair, followed by the not-so-trivial task of wheeling a half a block, all in the thundering rain.

Today I wanted to do a wine inventory. I find I can no longer lift the boxes of wine, no longer stack and re-stack them. It means they are all in a bit of a jumble, and I can't sort them out. I could call someone over to help; I've done this in the past. But I just want to know what wine I have and when it was made. Unfortunately I can't remember on either count. So I've asked Dion to go buy some wine racks for me so that I can rack the wine bottles one at a time, so that I can put dates on the rack to remind me of when it was made. It'll cost money for the racks, money I will have to come up with somewhere. It's just another thing, little or no.

I'm getting perpetually worn with all the small things, circumstances and happenstances which would mean nothing, and cost nothing, for most everyone else. Most people can handle a bit of rain, or an umbrella. Most people can move a box of wine, and remember when it was made. Most people can drink coffee without spilling it, most of the time. Most people can walk, stand, sit, move.

Perhaps it's more than the little things, but it's the little things that keep happening every day. It's wearing me down.