Immobility and hyperactivity are not a good mix. Rachel’s prom night injury has left her with a ruptured ligament in her ankle. Now she has a big fancy black walking boot that makes her look even more like an anime character than normal.
She is in the boot “until further notice.” Which may be a long time, she still falls at least once a day because of the crutches. Or, like the other day, gets distracted while velcroing up the boot and ends up hurting her foot as she takes a step with it only half secured.
Immobility for Rachel has been close to a near death experience. A great deal of her suffering, our collective suffering, is due to her immobility. Forget Chinese water torture or bamboo up the finger nails if you want to make an overly hyperactive child suffer make her sit still.
This combined with nightmares where she has to have surgery only to discover that she is actually made of spaghetti has led Rachel to some rather deep thought.
Thus we have the creation of Rachel’s Bucket List…over 300 things to do before she dies. This is a positive development, just before her 18th birthday in February she really thought life was over when she became an adult. Now, she has some goals, over 300 goals.
I won’t put the whole list up here, though it is a great anti-depressant. Here are some of the more interesting ones. Truth be told the whole list could fit under, “you might be ADHD if…” or “Box, what box? Where?”
Rachel’s Bucket List Part I -- favorites from the first three of six pages
- Be in two countries at once.
- Get a full body x-ray (MRI counts) for doing something stupid. (marked this one off)
- Find someone or something that makes me truly happy and never let it go.
- Perform in front of millions of people and have a great time.
- release an album (partially there)
- Put a pink wig on a horse and take a picture of it.
- Prove that happy cows don’t just come from California, happy cows come from anywhere and everywhere
- Be an arctic explorer with Lily and Delilah (her two chawienies)
- Eat every meal with chop sticks for a whole day
- Sit fully clothed with a loved one in an empty bath tub eating cheesecake and talk about our lives.
17. Buy rip away pants
18. Act like a super hero for a whole day
19. Finish at least one book and publish it
22. Compare the difference between sparking water and regular water
24. Become a Disney Princess, preferably animated
30. Count the tiles on the ceiling in the Hagia-Sophia
35. Go to an exotic land and eat at McDonalds
37. Go laser tagging wearing all white and see if I can win
41. Become a Muppet
48. Find out where I come from and who I am heritage wise
50. Catch a wayward Chicken
52. Have a serious conversation on a hamburger phone
58. Eat California rolls in Japan
62. Live life as a musical for a whole day
67. Wear a giant fake mustache and still expect people to take me seriously
74. Sign a bald mans head
75. Make a turtle pie and then sit and eat it in front of a turtle
79. Watch Bananas in Pajamas with real bananas in real lil’ pajamas
85. Sing songs from The Lion King with a ukulele to a lion at the zoo
86. Go on a safari in someone’s backyard
88. Ride a vespa in Britain pretending to be on an epic spy chase
96. Ride on an elephant and sing Ellie the Elephant by Toy Dolls at the top of my lungs
100. Never make mum and dad live in a rest home no matter how annoying they are as old people (I truly appreciate this one)
102. Dye my left thumb green and go into a garden shop and see if anyone notices
108. Take a bubble bath wearing a sea captains hat and playing with toy boats
118. Create a secret passage way behind a bookcase in my house
120. Sit in a boat in the middle of a field and talk to someone for hours and hours and say we’re stranded at sea
123. Climb a water tower and sign my name in sharpie really small on the side
127. Learn to be a much better cook
128. Start my own brand of freezer foods
130. Pretend to be in zero gravity
133. Become best friends with a Great Dane and solve mysteries in a tricked out funky van
135. Hug a man in a giant pencil suit
136. Set up hundreds of toasters and make enough toast to feed a small country (Rachel is known for her excellent toast making skills)
152. Cross the border to Canada singing The Border Patrol (their song www.blissmethod.com) counting down the miles as we go
154. Get stranded on an island only to realize that we were close to land the whole time
161. Walk dramatically down an alley wearing a trench coat and sunglasses (must randomly quote movies and show moves)
2 comments:
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/health/story.html?id=8973e8c1-6827-46a6-98cc-ef12076288ab
Rachel is not the only one who's likely to hurt herself while "immobilized"! Head injuries and lacerations are up over the past 10 years for kids on crutches. It's even worse for the wheel-chair-bound!
If she does start her own brand of freezer foods, let me know :-)
That was an incredible article - thank you for posting the link. Of course, now I have visions of Rachel with two black boots and stitches!
There is something to be said about teaching them how to use the crutches (etc). Rachel often looks like a toddler first learning to walk as she stumbles around on them. The Bus steps have nearly done her in more than once.
In addition to that the ER, doctors office, splint store all adjusted her crutches to different levels saying they were set up wrong.
Personally, I think the ER screwed them up raising the handles too high, "to protect her armpits."
I would say we have escaped further injury so far but I think I might be cursing myself and Rachel!
You will be the first to know if she starts a line of frozen foods. First she needs to learn to cook so she has something to freeze!
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