Charley, I wish it had been DRYER today! (But at least it wasn't actually raining.)
This morning was wildly productive. Picked Tom up and Katie and Phil more or less following us back to Nottingham. I backed the car into the spot next to the house so it would be easier for Tom to get from the car to the steps. Everything worked fairly slick. Tom got up the steps on his tush as planned (too bad everything is still wet from yesterday's rain) and into the rollator at the top of the stairs. From there he could swing around to the door and, while holding on to a walker while I got the rollator into the house, he as able to sit down into the rollator without having to step up the single step threshold. Voila! In the house.
After a little planning of Tom's life inside the house -- couch for a bed, commode, comfy chair, where he'd sit at the table (and on what), wheelchair vs. rollator access in kitchen to sink, coffee, stove, fridge, etc. -- they came to the conclusion that a wheelchair would be safer and more secure than the rollator.
So...Katie's project this afternoon is to find out whether what would be more practical (and economical): to rent a wheelchair for a couple months or buy one (that Medicare will probably pay for). So when Tom comes home is dependent on when we can get a wheelchair.
Tom had been most concerned about getting out of the house and DOWN the steps, but that went smoothly as well. And we used the wheelchair. I learned probably as much as Tom did about technique and procedures.
Then Tom and I went on an excursion on the way back to Dover. We stopped at Good 'n Plenty for lunch. The have excellent handicapped access (a long entry ramp) and the waitress was waiting at the door to find out why he was in a wheelchair. He was soooo hungry for corned beef hash. So he ordered from the breakfast menu and I had a mushroom smothered burger from the lunch menu. I cannot tell you how happy it made me to have Tom across the table from me at a meal! Seven weeks is a very very long time...
Got him safely back to Langdon Place after a leisurely lunch and then I dropped some stuff off at Goodwill on my way home, tearing up my hand trying to roll an unfinished plywood tabletop into the building with one hand (as my other was carrying in something else). I'll survive.
And on a further note of Spring, I counted at least 16 ladyslippers at the head of the driveway. They're not "ripe" (pink) yet, but they are definitely early development flowers. There will probably be a lot more than that. They're only about three weeks early...
Gotta go pot up some perenniel euphorbia for a friend and then start moving furniture and stuff around to make things even more easy for Tom to navigate.