March 1, 2026
Here's the story behind the picture I'm sharing here that I took yesterday. I was multitasking, like I always seem to do (I know many people relate!), whenever Orion needs to transition somewhere. We had a birthday party that I was looking forward to going to. I took the time to put on Orion's socks, then his AFOs (takes 2-5 minutes, depending on how the buckles thread through the loops), and finally his Billy shoes. After Orion helped himself into the van, I loaded his wheelchair in the back. I tend to leave his side door open for him to close it himself.
Note, there are things I leave to Orion to do while I juggle something else, allowing him natural time and space to think about doing and to do it. This doesn't apply to shoes. He's a fan of wearing as little as possible; shoes are the first to go!
I locked the front door of our home, and as I walked back to the van, I saw this scene and chuckled!
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| "No, thank you." 2/27/2026 |
Those of us who know Orion are familiar with his grabbing whatever food or item he does not want, stretching his arm out and away, then releasing to gravity. (We're working on him putting things into a trash can, Finished Box, or special container. He has one at school for composting the apples he doesn't eat!)
I imagined Orion calmly dropping these items out the door and then closing it. I envisioned the humanized robot, Number Five, from a favorite 1986 sci-fi/comedy movie "Short Circuit", tossing out the driver's seat as he drove a tall van away.
