Friday, February 27, 2009

The kindness of strangers and a job

So, we have Needlenoggin's old power chair and shower chair up for sale. The idea is that with the money we'd be able to fix up the donated wheelchair (it just needs a few after-market parts to make it paraplegic-friendly). However, so far we've gone nowhere fast on selling them (by the way, if you need a power chair or shower chair, leave me a message here at Round Peg's Wheelchair Emporium, and I'll make you a great deal). Craigslist is notoriously unreliable, so it is a long process.

However, we got two wonderful emails this weeks, from total strangers who have been reading our craigslist ads.

The first was a woman in San Jose who told us she'd love to give us her daughter's hand-me-downs for Rorysaurus (clothes are always appreciated...she grows so fast), and she is helping us with Home on the Range (our food service place) by sending money for a meal or two. I was so touched I cried.

Then yesterday I got an email from a lawyer in SF who'd broken her ankle. SHe'd been browsing wheelchairs online and found our ad. She said that she'd been the recipient of so much goodwill after her accident, she wanted to pay it forward, and sent us the money to pay for Needlenoggin's chair repairs. Random and out of the blue.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Oh, and then, in the elevator, I found an ad up for a caregiver for a lady in a wheelchair. She just needs help with her morning routine and getting into her chair, and she's in the same apartment building as we are, so if she's willing to hire me, I can work for an hour and a half while Little Monkey naps at home with Needlenoggin. I hate to add more to our schedule (and more responsibilities), but we're BROKE, so you do what you have to, right?