May(be) not today

I think I must be a glass half full kind of person, not something I realised until a few years ago and that I had probably taken for granted without realising it.

For a few years, I had terrible osteoarthritis in both knees which made it excruciating to walk on bad days and just a pain to have the rest of the time. After trying various pain killers, potions and lotions, steroid injections and almost anything else to relieve the pain, I was finally referred for the knee replacement operations and this happened quickly with both knees having full replacements within a year.

After the initial period of recovery and the joy of thinking I would now be bionic much to my kid's amusement, I was dismayed to find I was still in pain, but now it had affected other joints and points of my body. The doctor confirmed I had Fibromyalgia which was a relief in a way to know that it wasn't my imagination or that I was just a slow healer.

My priority now was to find a solution to my lack of mobility and after trying various walking sticks and walkers which seemed to hinder my recovery rather than help. Fate intervened in the funny way that it always does by making me redundant which had left me with a small amount of money at my disposal. I decided that as I hadn't driven a car for many years and did not feel the need to start, I settled on a small racy mobility scoote. ttrtrip to yhe trOn the day of the delivery, there was much enthusiasm as we unpacked the new scooter, shining red and black with a basket for carrying shopping home on the front. I named her May as with her I could leave the house with some independence. I loved her from the moment we set off on our first expedition together. Topping 4 mph and set to stun May and I proceeded to cause chaos with a smile and quite often hysterical laughter around the shopping centre and streets of my home town. I found it was a great way to meet new people as she would always start a conversation, much like going out with kids or a dog and often eliciting the same reaction. People would either smile or scowl, either way, it didn't bother me as I was out of the house and on a mission to cause general mayhem as usual but had upped the ante.

Freedom beckoned and with friends and family in tow, we explored the surrounding area, or as far as Mays battery would allow, which was usually about 3 miles before I would stutter to a halt and require pushing the rest of the way home. I soon discovered where I could safely go without losing my teeth as we bumped down yet another so called dropped kerb. Sometimes there were none at all and i would go an extra few yards muttering to myself and gaining even more strange looks before being able to cross the road safely. Grass proved to be challenging, especially if damp as the battery would drain quickly and i would be left stranded in a field of green, often thinking that maybe this route wasnt such a good idea. I had intended to visit my cousin who ran the miniture railyway in our local park. In the space of maybe 500 yards I had managed to get my wheels so clogged with wet grass that I had to dismount and clean them off before I could go any further. Somehow this resulted in me running my glasses over as i set off again. I did eventually get to spend the afternoon with my cousin and his wife, but was escorted all the way home as I think they were worried I might not get there safely. This was accommpanied by a great deal of laughter and Im pretty sure a huge sigh of relief when I finally disappeared up ghe garden path.

I also discovered May was great for shopping trips, and would often come home with bags dangling from handle bars making me feel like one of the homesless people as depicted in tv shows. A long shower pole caused particular merriment in a store, I was challenged to a joust amongst other things. This for me was wonderful, being out and causing chaos usually was such a joy. One lady in particular remarked I was always smiling when I used May, and it was with good reason as she was my escape from isolation.