Today we started out earlier on our trek to Victoria electing to stop en route for brunch instead of having breakfast at the start.

Little did we know that this simple decision/ choice or whatever you call it would again lead us to a strange coincidence and meeting when we stopped for our brunch.

As I relate this story please remember that for the following story to have unfolded a lot of things had to come into play.

If we had followed our usual routine we would have eaten our breakfast at about 7 or 7:30 before leaving our hotel area. Today we skipped breakfast and elected to have an early lunch or brunch.

When we stopped for our brunch was not predetermined. We decided that we would stop when the right opportunity arose and this was a fuel stop in Wyoming. While refuelling we decided to go to a Denney’s which we had not done to date.

Remember the Chance factors are starting to line up. We stopped later than we had planned and took longer to eat our lunch than planned.

When we finished our lunches Charlie and Harvey got into their van and Chuck and I got into ours. As we walked to the van an elderly couple had gotten out of their car and the elderly lady was aiding her elderly companion from their car. I waved at them and exchanges a friendly hi to them as I got into our van. Charlie and Harvey were taking care of some planning and personal matters while Chuck and I sat in our Van joking and waiting for Charlie to move out.

As I was in mid conversation joking with Chuck I noticed a very elderly couple walking past the front of our Van.

Suddenly they both fell to the ground right in front of the van. I yelled Oh God I gotta get out and help that old couple. Chuck didn’t see them nor did he see them fall and had I not been there he could have run over them with our van.

I rushed to them to find the elderly lady crying with blood on her hands, arm and face. The man couldn’t get up and the lady was in shock thinking she might have broken her arm.

I helped the gentleman to his feet with difficulty and I soon realized I was dealing with a man with advanced Parkinson’s. Having taken care of my own father when he was living during his last days with the disease with my family I was able to get him standing and back to his car. Another lady passerby helped me get him into the car.

The elderly lady advised me that she also had a spinal disorder and I checked her for broken bones and wiped the blood from her injuries and assessed that she only had suffered scrapes. The blood on her face was from her scraped hand. This fall to you and I would have been minor but this lady was probably in her late 80’s and very frail and she advised me that she was the care giver to her ailing husband.

I lifted her to her feet and helped her into her car also and checked her scrapes. She declined my calling for medical assistance and explained that she was taking her husband to lunch at Denny’s and when he fell he pulled her down with him.

Her tears ripped at my heart and I asked her who I could call to help he. She had no one. I offered to call the police to escort her home. She refused the offer.

She had the courage and strength of a woman who had probably already climbed many mountains in her life and after she sat for awhile and overcame her fears she regained some of her composure and said she would be Ok.

I felt so helpless with her being unfamiliar with her town, her system and the protocol to follow in the US.

She thanked me and waved as she drove off home to tend to her scrapes. I felt so helpless and tears welled in my eyes as she drove away.

Another day in our journey, another chance meeting with strangers, and another mystery of why.

My knowing about our journey, our purpose and our goal gave me reason to ponder for the rest of the day about the past several days and many questions raced through my mind as we drove on to our destination and destinies.

Are there this many people suffering debilitating injuries and diseases that we meet several at every stop or are we somehow being led to them through some power bigger than us all.

One thing I must point out is that I am not a religious person and I do not normally believe in devine intervention but the chance meetings of the past few days are starting to make me wonder about our choices, our reasons for being here and what is driving us to this end goal.

I’d like to believe that it is the desire to see my friends walk again “Just Like The Rats” and I’d like to believe that I am doing this on my own choice but lately there have been moments when I have wondered what is really steering this ship and our crew and what force has created the scenario where my friend Charlie was injured and couldn’t walk. What made Charlie become the power he has become to drive the unlikely crew of individuals to wheel across Canada on hand cycles to bring awareness to spinal cord regeneration research, the need for massive amounts of money to complete this research and the strength to give us the tools necessary to make this journey.

Without our friends at home whom have already helped out so much already, the many donnors who have already given so much and to the many readers of our blogs and web sites our journey could not have happened.

We’re almost at our launch point and we are even more committed than last week to make this miracle happen. I am asking all who have been so unselfish with their time to please stay with us, get bigger sticks to keep shaking the bushes for donors and helpers. Together all of us every donor, every volunteer, every friend, family member, community leader and business leaders can make this miracle a Canadian achievement that all Canadians will be proud of for years to come.

We need everyone’s support and we will reach our goal of 10 million dollars 30 cents at a time if necessary just like Barrack Obama raised his campaign funds 1 dollar at a time with the grass roots of our society.

Before I close I must also tell you about how beautiful the drive through the northern states along I 90 has been. I can’t describe the beauty and the awe we all experienced as we drove through the plains and across the Rockies into Washington State.

We will be in Victoria tomorrow a little tired, very much enlightened, more determined and fired up to start our Journey (By Our Journey I mean All of Us You, myself, Nancy and the Athletes because to make it happen we need as many people as possible to spread the word to get people engaged to make this our Canadian project to in effect “Make a Miracle Happen”).

Until Tomorrows blog goodnight and like Red Skelton said “God Bless” and keep working behind the scenes until we reach our goal of making a miracle.

Jim Anderson

Wheel To Walk Canada