Wheelchair

Sunday we went to church, where Sandro helped take Dee up on the electric stair lift. I was able to pull the car to within a few steps of the base of the stairs. Alessio went upstairs and, on his own initiative, found a wheelchair in a closet somewhere, instead of the office chair I had asked for. It worked pretty well, though it did evoke some extra outpouring of sympathy from the ward members, all of whom were wonderful in offering to help in any way. Bishop Magnanti kindly allowed us to bring the wheelchair home for as long as we need it (they actually have two of them). Turns out that it is helpful for getting from our door to the street but not inside. It barely fits in the car and is a pain to handle in general. We will probably end up not using it much, particularly when the knee scooter arrives in a few days, but at first it seemed like a good idea and who knows when it could come in handy?

Sandro standing on the stair lift

After church we came home and ended our fast, which left me rather zonked for a while. Dee decided she would stay at home the rest of the day; it is better to rest her foot, and getting around is really quite challenging, with steps and stairs everywhere. I left for a two-hour stake choir practice at 4pm, which was a helpful for me in getting my bass part down.

From there I went to the senior missionary potluck dinner at the mission home, which is held every couple of months. Our contribution was the leftover pulled pork from Friday evening, which all disappeared. Everyone asked about Dee. Sorella Pickerd now finally has (very short) hair instead of a wig, and she says that her energy is slowly coming back now that her chemo and radiation are over. The Pickerds hold a debrief session on what is happening in the mission, where we all contribute and ask questions. Mostly they talked about the temple open house and dedication, though they don't know all the details yet, as well as the LDS Charities Friendship Center which is opening later this month. With the Simoncinis and the Calabreses both there, we needed to translate almost everything, and the President kept talking in Italian when he meant to use English, so his wife would quietly remind him, "use English, dear."

I got home about 8:30pm and emptied the trunk in preparation for putting in the old washer machine Monday morning to take it to the recycling facility. I carried four big bags and made it in one trip (barely).