One and Done

Barry and I made a decision early on in this process that may have complicated our design, but it also brought clarity and honesty to the conversation. We decided that we were going to design a suite for Katherine that would accommodate her for her lifetime. Cerebral Palsy is not a progressive or degenerative disease, so hopefully she will have a very long life! 

This is our third home since our marriage of almost 20 years. We noticed that we are not the kind of people who redecorate or change things very often. For the most part, with our first two houses we made decisions about furniture and art within the first year in each house. After that, we made very few changes - the only exception was when Katherine and Gabriel were born and we had to reallocate space for a nursery. 

We also recognized that while CP is not progressive, Katherine's ability to assist with transfers and such does change over time. She is able to work out and become stronger, sometimes particular therapies are no longer available and she gets weaker, and sometimes her muscles pull and twist her bones to a point that she eventually requires surgery to straighten things out. 

Also, like it or not, we are getting older. While we already do and will most likely continue to have in-home aides available to help her some of the time. I am her primary caregiver. I'm doing my best to stay healthy and strong, but the fact is that when Katherine is 40, I will be 65. 

Therefore, we chose to create a space where Katherine can drive up next to the toilet and transfer without using a lift. At the same time, we did make sure that her lift can be used to get her to the toilet in case Katherine or whoever is with her at the time isn't strong enough or confident enough to do that. 

I know there are people out there who love to remodel and redecorate often, and I wish you all the best. The Dean Show needed this to be One and Done. I guess time will tell if we truly accomplished our goal, but so far so good!