Aphasia Trike for Nancy Warren

For those who do not know us yet, my beautiful wife Nancy Warren had a severe stroke 6 years ago, and even though it disabled her with Aphasia, she is even more beautiful on the inside now than she is on the out -- and that's saying a lot.

Nancy essentially lost the use of her right arm, has difficulty walking and has the usual speech impediment that accompanies Aphasia. Nancy was a highly regarded massage therapist at the time of the stroke and had a very bright and rewarding career in front of her. The number of clientele who found healing with her, as well as the many long-term relationships that grew out of that, are a testament to both her capability as well as her genuine caring for others. And trust me, that is a very hard life to lose overnight. The emotional obstacles over the last 6 years have been considerable, and Nancy has handled it all like a pro, maturing both as a person and as a Christian throughout her ordeal.

Although I am now our sole provider, we have received much help over the years, probably even from some of you reading this, and we are doing just fine making ends meet. But certain things are just out of the picture for us financially, one of those being something we feel would enrich Nancy's life greatly.

We recently learned about recumbent trikes, and thought this might be a good solution for getting her away from the TV and out of the house, getting the excercise she needs and engaging the world around her while I am busy with 2 jobs. So we found a local dealer and went by to test drive a recumbent tadpole:






For those of you who know Nancy well, you know she can do that fake baby cry like nobody's business. It's always funny. What you see here is NOT that. This is real uncontrollable bawling, real tears. What you see here is 6 years of pain and frustration being suddenly released from Nancy as she felt the power over her own motion this trike provides -- abilities and potentials she has been denied for a long time. It made the shop owner and me cry too.

Now it is my mission to get her on one of these for good. We live in a safe place, and would now be able to explore the environs together.

Neither of us realized this was something that Nancy lost and has been missing for all of this time... her ability to engage nature, to move or leave the house under her own power for any time or distance, to "transport" herself anywhere at all beyond from one room to the next. And for someone so independent to begin with, that is a pretty big thing. She cannot practically perform any meaningful work, or drive, and has become a housewife out of necessity. We have very few visitors, none to speak of on any regular basis, and she is in desperate need of excercise, for her right leg specifically. Walking does not cut it, only aggravates already considerable pain in her right ankle and hip.

The only problem is that a decent trike, of the kind that is safest for her, with the upgrades and modifications we need, will run several thousand dollars. So we are looking for some assistance.

Are there more worthy causes out there that need your help far more than we do? There sure are, and we wrestled with a little guilt even posting this and putting it out there (since some people we know actually need OUR help). But hey, if some guy can raise thousands of dollars with crowdfunding to invent a new salad, then we might as well put the request out there and see what happens.

My wife needs this freedom, and this particular excercise. A power scooter that might be covered by insurance is not the solution here. So whether we know you or not, I am hoping that if you find yourself with a little leftover cash, AFTER helping someone who really needs it, you might consider throwing some this way and enriching the life of such a beautiful person.

We take so many fundamental things for granted, especially when they require no conscious thought. I ask myself all the time, what would it feel like to so suddenly, and permanently, lose so much of the independence I once took for granted, to the point that even walking is a chore. How would it feel to go from fierce independence to almost complete dependence on someone else for some of your most basic needs out of life, and for that to happen with no warning, and no real hope or reason to expect that could ever again change back to the way it was?

One things is for sure - we are all getting older :-) and many of us may yet learn the answer to those questions. We both thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us here, and most especially for your prayers and the blessing so many of you have already been over the years. God bless!