Leaning Left

No, I have not changed my political views - calm down.

This morning I sit in the waiting room of Mobility Outfitters, Inc. in Plano as they work on Alex's car.  This has been one of those not so easy decisions to make as Alex is still in denial that he won't wake up on August 1st and have full mobility.  See, when you tell a teenager that they will be 'normal' by the end of the summer, they jump to the old normal and not the new normal.  The old normal of no braces, no muscle fatigue, no ankle or foot weakness and no the new normal of 80-90% mobility with a plastic brace and fatigue.  Don't get me wrong, Alex is still kicking major tail my friends.  He is working hard in PT, started back with the strength and conditioning session at Jesuit today, doing the work at home with his eStim and stretches and when you work hard - you win, right?  Sometimes the win isn't what you thought it would be and you need to reset your sights.

We have all been a teenager and know how important it is to think that we are the doing life on our own as an 'adult'.  This is still very much the case when life throws you a curve ball (or a fly ball in this case - too soon?).  Alex should finish his junior year this week - one paper and one final to go - and venture into his senior year. Gulp.  Last night we had a talk that many have all over the country every day with their juniors, we had it with the Tall One last year, it is time to look to the future.  It is time to decide which colleges you want to look at, time to think about what you might want to study, time to buckle down and nail the last year of high school.  I would be lying if I didn't say this conversation went a little left in our house.  See, sometimes you aren't ready to move to the next phase until you can get past the last phase.  In our case, that last phase involved hospitals, tests, and frustration.  Well, it is time to move past all of that in our house, it is time to look at the future and senior year.  Hanging with buddies, visiting colleges, enjoying the games, the fun and oh yes, studying.  Let's just pretend shall we?

And that brings us back to the car.

Today, the nice people here are installing a left foot accelerator in Alex's car so he can have some of his independence back.  This is a temporary fix that disables the right side accelerator so he can drive with his left foot.  It isn't hand controls, and the only way anyone will notice is if they try to drive the car.  We shall ignore, for my sanity, the fact that this car will probably will be driven by many boys having fun 'test driving' just because they can and it is different.

So today we lean left in our family and Alex gets some of his independence back (once he learns how to drive with his left foot which is easier than you might think).  This is a great day in his journey, and this is just another way that the kiddo walks.