Rob and the California George Family

Lee reminded me of this photo a few years ago. I had forgotten about it. This is a picture of me pushing my wheelchair-bound dad across the old pontoon bridge on Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland.

For anyone not familiar with it, this was a bridge floating on barrels in the "Rivers of America" part of Disneyland. This was tons of fun to run across as a kid while it bounced up and down in the water. It was at best a wobbly walk across this bridge.

I am guessing here, but from the photo I think I was around 13 or 14 at the time. My dad later had an electric wheelchair so that he could get around on his own, but this was the old manual one that someone had to push around. I don't remember when he got that electric chair, but it could not have been much after this photo. There is no way the electric model could have made this trip. It was too heavy to maneuver somewhere like this.

Once my brother and I were old enough, we did some pretty daring things with my dad in his wheelchair. This was one. Pushing close to the edge of the Grand Canyon was another. I was definitely more nervous than my dad seemed to be -- he had the utmost trust in our ability to handle these situations. It was a lot of responsibility to put on us -- and a good way to teach us that level of responsibility at a young age.

The line of people behind us is pretty funny. I don't remember them at all, but I can imagine now what they were thinking.

Labels: Bingo, Disneyland, Rob