It was a beautiful sunshiny day, the last of February, 45 degrees. A walk down to the Science Museum seemed a great idea, but like most Minnesotans eager for spring, Stan jumped the gun and didn’t wait for the sun to do its job on the snow. The walk was marred with sidewalks full of slush, snow, ice and standing water too wide to leap. He made the trip anyway, it just took longer. A year ago, Stan went to the museum riding a wheelchair on a field trip, an inpatient outing as part of treatment for stroke injury. The therapists made secret notes on how we did on the childhood challenges, like playing the keyboard embedded in the floor, or shooting baskets in the sports area. Stan didn’t do any of that stuff today, figuring the sidewalks were balance challenges enough.
