Mission: FREEDOM (finally…)

2014-12-04 Posted By Jenna

A picture is worth a thousand words, but this one just needs one: “stubborn.” Ya, I’m going to go with “stubborn.” (I was convinced that I could bring my wheelchair down the stairs by myself, after having gotten out and holding on to it from behind to steer. Nope!). I’ve been stubborn my whole life, and sometimes it has helped me persevere, while other times it has forced me to learn lessons the hard way. Enjoy another such…lesson!

There was this one time I went to go meet a friend for lunch, or dinner (I can’t remember) and we were going to a Thai restaurant that was right around the corner from our old high school. So, someone at home put my chair in the trunk and I got into my car and drove off, parking the front of the school to park like I always used to. I wasn’t wearing my braces that day, and my ankles hadn’t been in the greatest shape (in a pinch, if I wasn’t wearing my braces I’d stand up and hold onto the side of the car and follow it around to the trunk) so, I opened the front door but changed my mind. I decided I was going to get to the trunk to put my wheelchair together another way. An easier way. A smarter way.

How? Well, I flipped back all the seats so that I had easy access to the trunk, it was a hatchback, and basically crawled all the way back. My plan was that I’d get back there and use the latch that was on the inside of the trunk to open it. At least that was the plan. As I crawled my way to the back of the car, I found myself wedged between the wall of the car and the pieces of my wheelchair.

There was no room, and I mean NO room to move, except to move my hand along the inside of the trunk to find the latch. But all my hand was feeling was smooth plastic, there was no latch. In my defense, I later realized that my plan was a little outdated because I was really remembering the latch that was on the inside of our old car. I won’t lie, I started to panic, I was stuck.

A moment of clarity came to me and I thought that I’d call someone for help using my phones, my phone in my purse, my phone in my purse tucked nicely under the front seat. Can you say OY?! So there I was praying for someone to come and save me when I saw my friend walking up the sidewalk. She looked confused as she saw my car with the front door open but no Jenna. As she closed in she heard tapping, but what she saw was priceless, my face pressed up against the glass of the trunk feeling a little... vulnerable.

As I’ve shared this story over the years, people have half asked, half begged, “Please tell me she took a picture!” Sorry, nope! And so you may then be thinking that since there’s no physical proof, why in the world would I be sharing this with you?! Because in life you have to laugh, even if it’s at yourself - especially when you have no control over your circumstances. It’s the best medicine for you, and the ones that are on this journey with you.

Not to mention, if there’s a lesson you have to learn, the Universe is going to keep giving you the “opportunity” to learn it - until you do. That was the kick in the butt I needed to finally figure out how to independently, efficiently, and safely get my chair in the car (dignity in tact!).