NOTE: This chapter is written from Jonas' POV.
By lunchtime we’ve seen blue wildebeest, waterbuck, zebras, impala, springbok and more giraffes. We drive up a dirt road and Bjørn parks in a small parking area by a metal link fence with a gate in it.
By lunchtime we’ve seen blue wildebeest, waterbuck, zebras, impala, springbok and more giraffes. We drive up a dirt road and Bjørn parks in a small parking area by a metal link fence with a gate in it.
“It doesn’t look like much from here, but when we get
up to the picnic area you’ll see why we chose this picnic site for lunch,”
Margrete says before she jumps out of the car. Sigrid and Bjørn also gets out
and start getting stuff out of the back; the large cooler with food, a picnic
basket and some other things. I wish I could carry something, but when I’m tall
I’m not able to carry stuff, unless it’s in a backpack.
I push those thoughts to the back of my head as I open
the car door and pull my crutches from the floor and lean them against the open
door. Then I grab my legs under the knees and move them so I’m sitting sideways
with my feet dangling about a foot above the ground. After taking a deep,
steadying breath I grab the crutches and after I’ve got a secure grip on them I
pull myself up to a standing position. As my legs straighten I hear the knee
joints lock. When I look up I notice Sigrid looking at me with a smile on her
face.
“Would you mind grabbing my camera and the wheelchair
cushion for me?” I ask her, blushing slightly. I hate asking for assistance,
but I know that sometimes there is just no way around it.
“Of course, babe,” she replies, then she stands on her
tiptoes and places a kiss on my lips. While she grabs my things I start making
my way toward the gate. By the time I reach the gate she hurries in front of me
and holds it open as I crutch trough. I
follow her up the path toward the picnic area. It’s a bit rougher than I like,
and steeper, so I struggle a bit. By the time I finally make it to the top of
the small hill my shoulders are aching from the strain. Apparently it’s evident
on my face too; Sigrid looks at me with a worried look on her face.
“You okay?”
“Fine,” I say gruffly. Truth is that I kind of shot my
wad making it up that hill. I’m glad being on a game drive mostly means sitting
still in the car, so I can relax after lunch. After I’ve made it down that damn
hill again. Sometimes I hate the limitations of my disability.
Margrethe and Bjørn are already busy setting up the
picnic site. When they see us
approaching Margrethe hurries to set up one of the foldable camping chairs
they’ve brought and Sigrid places the wheelchair cushion on the seat. I thank
them and gratefully lower myself into the chair. I notice Sigrid watches as I
release the knee joints on my braces and adjust my legs and when I’m done she
comes over with a bottle of water for me.
“Thanks, babe,” I say as I take it from her. She sets
up a chair next to me and after a few beats of silence she breaks it.
“Are you having a good time?”
“Do you even have to ask that? I had a great time in
Rietvlei, but this is something else. It’s amazing. I just hope we see
elephants by the end of the day.”
“We’re pretty much guaranteed to. I’ve never been to
Pilanesberg without seeing plenty of elephants. I’m surprised we haven’t seen any
yet.”
“Sigrid is right, Jonas,” Bjørn interjects. “We’ll see
elephants. I’ll be very surprised if we leave here without seeing any.”
“That’s good,” I say with a smile. Sigrid and her
parents turn their attention to preparing lunch for us and I sit there and
enjoy the view of the lake. Although I know we’re not really far from
civilization I feel like I’m in the middle of the wilderness and it’s a great
feeling. Before I was injured I loved
hiking and often spent the weekends hiking in the forests around Oslo. It’s one
of the things I miss the most from my pre-injury life.
…
When we settle back into the car after we’ve eaten
lunch I’m tired. Getting down the hill
from the picnic area to the car was more of a challenge than I like and my arms
and shoulders are aching.
“Are you okay?” Sigrid asks when I wince slightly as I
roll my shoulders a little.
“I’m fine. Just kind of shot my wad getting up and
down that hill. I’ll definitely be using my chair for next few days, probably
for the rest of our stay here.”
“That’s fine,” Sigrid assures me. “We don’t have any
plans that require you to be tall.”
We head back down the road and continue our drive
around the park. Over the next couple of
hours we visit the hide by Mankwe dam and drive around some more. At the hide we
see several birds, including a couple of different kingfishers and weaver
birds. We also see hippos, well the top
of their heads, from the hide. When we
continue our drive around the park we add white rhinos and baboons to the list
of animals we’ve seen today.
It’s almost three in the afternoon when we finally spot
the first elephants at a distance, but when we get closer there’s a whole
family down by the edge of a small dam.
The icing on the cake is when we spot a lion eating its prey; it looks
like either an impala or a springbok, not far from the road when we get close
to the gate we’re leaving the park from. We sit in the car for almost 20
minutes and watch before we drive towards the gate. It’s a great end to one of the most amazing
days I’ve ever experienced.
…
I actually feel somewhat rested when we make it back
to Pretoria around nine in the evening. I nodded off not long after we left
Pilanesberg and I’ve slept through the entire drive back to town. Sigrid wakes
me up and I’m surprised to see my wheelchair waiting for me next to the car.
“You said you were tired from crutching around all day
so I figured I’d get you your chair,” she says in a way of an explanation when
she sees the puzzled look on my face.
“Thank you,” I say gratefully as I adjust the position
of my chair slightly before I transfer to it. My arms feel like jelly and I
realize it’s not the most graceful transfer I’ve ever done as I place my feet
on the footrest and adjust my legs slightly. Sigrid is helping her parents
bring everything from the car inside and I’m grateful I didn’t have an audience
for that transfer. I take a deep breath and then I wheel to the back of the
car. I grab my backpack and don it and then I place the smaller picnic basket
in my lap and make my way to the kitchen where I leave it on the table and then
I head to the bedroom to get out of my braces and use the bathroom.
. . .
The next morning I’m woken up early by the hadedas. I
try to go back to sleep, but to no avail. I’m wide-awake and decide to get up. I sit up in bed and pull the covers back
carefully so I don’t disturb Sigrid, who is still fast asleep. I lift my legs
over the edge of the bed and pull my wheelchair closer before I transfer. My arms and shoulders are still sore after
crutching around yesterday, but I still manage a fairly smooth transfer without
jostling the bed too much. Sigrid stirs a little, but to my relief she rolls
back onto her side and seem to drift off again.
After I’ve done my morning routine in the bathroom I
pull a sweatshirt over my head, grab my phone and iPad and head for the kitchen
to start a pot of coffee. I’m about to
finish my second mug when Margrethe walks into the kitchen followed by
Bjørn.
“Good morning,” I greet them. “There’s coffee in the
pot.”
“Good morning,” Bjørn greets me as he takes a seat at
‘his’ place by the table and Margrethe walks over to the coffee maker.
“Good morning, Jonas. I’m surprised you’re up already.
I figured you’d sleep in today since you were up so early yesterday,” Margrethe
comments as she pours two mugs of coffee and sets them on the table. She tops
up my mug before she takes a seat next to her husband.
“It’s a habit that has stuck with me from when I
worked in construction. My workdays usually started at seven in the morning,
which meant getting up at 5:30 and sometimes even earlier to be at the building
site on time. I don’t get up that early anymore tho, but I normally struggle to
sleep past seven, even if I have the day off.”
“That’s not the worst habit to stick with,” Bjørn says
with a smile. “Although I’m sure Sigrid doesn’t agree.”
“She doesn’t always approve of me getting up early,” I
say with a chuckle. The truth is that Sigrid likes to cuddle in the mornings,
but I don’t tell her parents that.
“So, what are your plans for today?” Margrethe asks,
changing the subject.
“We’re just going to hang out here today as far as I
know. We only have a few days left of our vacation and I think a few days of
r’n’r before we head back north sounds good. We’ll be busy with school when we
return to Norway, we’ve both got demanding schedules the coming semester.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Margrethe replies with a
smile on her face. “I’m glad you’ll be spending some time here, with us, before
you leave.”
I suddenly feel brave and decide to ask the question
I’ve wanted to ask pretty much since I got here. “How do you really feel about me as a partner
for Sigrid?” I blurt out. I feel my cheeks going red as soon as the words leave
my mouth.
“What do you mean?” Bjørn asks, looking confused. “We
really like you and we see how happy Sigrid is when she’s with you.”
“Well, most parents don’t dream of knight in shining
wheelchair for their daughter…” I say with a shrug.
“Jonas that really doesn’t matter to us. Have we said
or done anything to make you think like that?” Margrethe asks with concern
lacing her voice.
“No, not at all. You’ve made me feel very welcome from
I got here and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you. It’s nice to see how a
“normal” family works, since mine is so far from that.” I air-quote normal.
“It’s just a thought I haven’t been able to push out of my mind. I’m disabled
and significantly older than Sigrid. Some parents wouldn’t be thrilled about
either of those things.”
“To be honest I was worried about the age difference,”
Bjørn says. “When Sigrid told us you’re almost 10 years older than her I wasn’t
thrilled. After getting to know you I have no problem with it. And I don’t have
a problem with your disability. If Sigrid is okay with it that’s all that’s
matter.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” I say. They clearly have no
idea their daughter is more than okay with my disability.
“Sigrid mentioned you don’t have much contact with
your family,” Margrethe says. “That there was some kind of fallout between your
father and you.”
I sigh. “You know who my parents are, right?”
They both nod. “Yes.”
“They never approved of my choice to go into
construction work. I think Dad expected me to go to business school and follow
in his footsteps. He was very peeved when I chose a vocational course in high
school and our relationship became even more strained when I ended up making a
career of it. I think dad hoped it was just a ‘phase’ I’d get over.”
“So, you haven’t had any contact with your family
since then?”
“Things were strained and we only saw each other for
the mandatory family get-togethers around the holidays and for birthday parties
and stuff like that. Apart from that we
didn’t have any contact. My brothers and I have never been close. I’m a few
years older and have never embraced the ‘socialite’ lifestyle they love.” I
pause to have a sip of my coffee and gather my thoughts. “Anyway… Three years
ago I fell of the scaffolding at a building site. For the first couple of days
after it happened I was pretty much unconscious. The doctors pumped me full of painkillers and
I had surgery to fuse my spine together.
About three days after the accident my parents appeared. I was a mess
both physically and emotionally, just a few hours before they showed up I’d
been told I’d never walk again, and I was desperate for some support. It didn’t take me many seconds to realize the
support I needed wouldn’t come from my parents. Long story short; my father
told me it was my own fault that I’d gotten injured since I’d been ‘reckless’
enough to work in construction instead of going to business school and coming
to work for him. My mother didn’t say much, except mumbling something about how
a wheelchair ramp would ruin the front of their house and needing to get in
touch with their architect to look at it. I told them to leave and told my
father not to contact me again until he was ready to apologize for what he
said. That still hasn’t happened.”
“Oh my,” Margrethe says as she places a hand on my
forearm. “So you went through the recovery and rehabilitation alone, without
support from your family? That must have been hard.”
“I have some great friends that helped me through
it. In retrospect I realize I was naïve
to expect my parents to be supportive, they never have been. We had nannies and
au pairs that took care of us kids when we were growing up; we rarely spent
time together as a family, that only happened on special occasions. I have to
admit I’m jealous of Sigrid…”
Before I finish the sentence I feel her arms wrap
around my shoulders and she leans down and kisses me on the cheek. I release my
brakes, back away from the table, pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around
her.
“You’re jealous of me? Why?”
“Because you have great parents that care about you.”
“They’re pretty great, aren’t they?” she says, smiling
at Bjørn and Margrethe. Then she pecks
me on the lips before she stands up and walks over to the coffee maker on the
counter.
“I sure think so,” I say. “I really wish my family was
more like yours. I grew up never lacking
anything materialistic; I had expensive clothes, the latest technology and
fancy sporting equipment…. They took us on vacations to exotic locations. I know
many of my friends were jealous of me. But what I really wanted was my parents
to pay some attention to me, I wished they’d spend time with me and acknowledge
my existence.”
“It baffles me how some people seem to think they can
substitute spending time with their kids and interacting with them with
material things. When Sigrid was younger our finances were pretty tight for a
while, since we were both working freelance and living costs were high in the
cities we were living in, but I don’t think she suffered because she didn’t
have the newest clothes or the biggest doll house. We treated her to
experiences instead of material things.”
“I definitely didn’t suffer,” Sigrid states firmly.
“I’ve never felt I lacked anything.”
“I’ll definitely apply your parenting philosophy if I
ever become a father,” I say to Bjørn and Margrethe. I kind of regret saying it
though, because I know it’s unlikely to happen. I’m definitely going to need
some medical assistance to have any chance to make it happen.
“I’m with you on that,” Sigrid says, kissing me on the
cheek. I decide to steer the conversation away from where it’s heading.
Although Bjørn and Margrethe are great I really don’t feel like discussing crip
mechanics with them at this point.
“Judging from your condo in Cape Town and this place
you’re doing pretty well these days,” I say as I glance around the spacious
kitchen that looks like it has recently been remodeled. And it’s not a cheap
remodel. The countertops are made of a shiny granite and the appliances are
high-end.
“By the time we moved here both of us had pretty good
careers and regular, well paid assignments.
We’re lucky to be earning Norwegian salaries and living here. As you’ve
probably realized by now the cost of living is much lower here than back in
Norway.”
“That I’ve realized,” I say with a chuckle. “And
Norway is ridiculously expensive. I know Sigrid was shocked at first.”
“I bet. Last time I was in Oslo I paid more for a
pretty basic one-course meal for myself and a couple of pints of beer than I
did for a three-course dinner for Margrethe and me at a nice restaurant here.”
“Going out is very expensive,” I agree. “I live on
Tjuvholmen and the restaurants around there are generally overpriced
tourist-traps. I prefer to get away from the areas filled with tourists when I
go out. The food is generally cheaper and better quality at the smaller places
a bit outside the city center.”
We continue to chat while Sigrid and Margrethe prepare
breakfast and I thoroughly enjoy the light mood and how they make me feel like
I’m part of the family. I hadn’t realized just how much I’ve missed being part
of a family, even my dysfunctional one, over the past few years.
Nice to see it from Jonas' point of view. Well written.
ReplyDeleteOh, I almost forgot about this wonderful story. What a super pleasant surprise!! Please keep on updating!
ReplyDeleteIt has been too long since I've visited these characters! Glad for the latest update! I look forward to more as you get around to it. You are doing an awesome job of writing!
ReplyDeleteYeah!!! Thanks for the update. Quality is better than quantity.
ReplyDeleteTc
Love Jonas. So happy Sigrid's parents are so accepting.
ReplyDeleteYea, so glad you were able to get back to this story, which i adore
ReplyDelete