On Friday morning, I repeated my demonstration for Bling.

I felt like a child putting on a show for his parent. Look Ma! No Hands! I asked Bling to stand about three feet away from me, and warned him that under no circumstances was he allowed to move. I knew that he would be completely shocked. I hadn’t breathed a hint of this to him even after he had to peel me off the table on Tuesday. After everything he has done for me, I have almost been more afraid of disappointing him than Max. I knew that the moment I would begin to slide out of my chair, he would want to try and catch me. Sure enough, I could see the nervousness in his eyes as I placed my feet on the floor and inched myself forward in my chair. Then I placed my hands on the wheels and with one push I was standing. I watched him closely as his expression changed from fear to shock and then to elation at the realization of what I had done.

Bling has only known me in a wheelchair. When I stood up for him, I am sure that both of our dreams came true. I couldn’t help the huge goofy grin on my face as I stood there looking at him. He was the one that never gave up on the hope of me regaining the use of my legs. He was the one that kept me physically strong. He was the one that helped me hang on to the threads of my sanity. I almost expected Bling to whoop and holler, but he responded in his usual reserved manner. He let me stand there for a few minutes just enjoying the moment. Then he got back to business.

"I expect that somehow you are not quite satisfied just standing there. So let’s get you walking." His tone was serious, but the light in his eyes betrayed his underlying joy. I continued to smile at him as I watched the grin grow on his face as well. He helped me back into he chair, and then picked up the phone to make a few calls. An hour later, he had rigged up some parallel bars in the middle of the living room.

Whenever I imagined walking again, it had a dreamlike quality. I would stand up, push the chair away, take Max in my arms, and walk away. Friday was nothing like that. I had to work hard for every step that I took. Still, my progress was amazing. Bling knew exactly what to say to coach me along.

"Logan, it’s amazing, but in the last few weeks you have developed excellent muscle tone in your legs. That means we won’t need to do any strength work to build up muscle mass. It is already there. We can focus on balance, coordination and endurance. Your biggest challenge today will be upper body fatigue, because you will be supporting a significant portion of your body weight with your arms while we re-train your legs. The key is to think about what you are doing and to be very exact until the motor patterns reestablish themselves. I think we can get you walking in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Can you live with that?" Bling looked at me with another grin on his face.

"Yeah!" I grinned back at him. "When do we start?"

"Right now. Choose an end and stand yourself up." Bling nodded towards the bars. It took me about two seconds to comply. Bling stood between the bars about an arm’s length in front of me as he began to coach me.

"Logan, you’ve placed your feet about shoulder width apart, which is good. That will be our neutral standing position. How is your balance right now?"

"Good. I could let go and I would be fine."

"I want you to continue holding on for now. You will need the added support as we proceed. What I want you to do now is to bend your right knee and raise your leg so that your right heel lifts off the floor. Your weight will automatically shift to your left leg."

"Whoa!" I was surprised by the difference that small change made. I could feel my left leg shaking under the additional weight.

"Okay, now I know why you wanted me to hold on." I acknowledged to Bling.

"You’re doing fine. You can lower your leg now." Bling gave me another encouraging smile. "When you are ready, try it with your left leg."

As I repeated the action with my left leg I could feel my right leg shaking under the strain of the additional weight. I found myself using my arms to support a significant portion of the weight. Though I wasn’t tired yet, I could tell that we were going to work hard. Bling asked me to repeat the exercise several times before insisting that we take a break, with a ‘sit’ that didn’t leave room for argument.

Ten minutes later, he allowed me to get back into position. Then we really went to work.

"This time, Logan, we will take this a little further. Be prepared to use your arms for support while we do this. Place your hands a little further in front of you on the bars so that you are leaning forward slightly. When you are ready, I want you to bend your right knee just as you did before. But this time, raise your leg enough so that your foot clears the floor entirely. Now replace your foot a comfortable distance in front of you and shift your weight forward so it is over your right leg. Take as much weight onto your leg as you can." I focused all my energy as I strained to comply with his instructions. With Bling guiding my legs, I was able to take an awkward step forward. Then I held onto the bars tightly while he helped me reestablish my balance.

"Good. You took your first step." Bling, the master of understatement, smiled slightly as he continued with the business at hand. "How are those arms holding out?"

"Great!" He didn’t even need to ask, considering what I had just done. There was no way I would have stopped at that point, even if I had been exhausted.

"Okay. Lets keep going." He said matter-of-factly.

We slowly worked our way along the bars, stopping after each step to reestablish my stability. About half an hour later, we made it to the other end. When Bling silently brought me the chair, I sat down gratefully. My legs felt thick, heavy and tired, but they also felt wonderful. I was completely elated at what we had just accomplished.

I tried to focus on other things for a few minutes, but my eyes kept returning to those bars. An hour later, I had to try again. That time we were able to do two passes. We repeated the process a half a dozen times on Friday, and each time I was able to do more. By the end of the day, I was able to walk with a much more fluid gait. I couldn’t believe how rapidly my body was adapting.

At 10:00 pm, Bling shut me down. He reiterated another one of my favorites from the book of Blingisms. This time, it was the one about rest being as important as training. He even threatened to dismantle the bars if I even so much as looked at them for the remainder of the night. Well, I did sneak a few peeks while he wasn’t looking, but I managed to exercise an amazing amount of restraint.

Yesterday, Bling and I completed dozens of passes along the bars, and with each one my balance, coordination and endurance improved. Then this morning, I took my first tentative steps on my own. Bling asked Max to come over, and in his typical no nonsense way he put her right to work. He placed Max about an arm’s length in front of me so she could spot me from the front while he spotted from behind. I will always remember the joy on Max’s face as she watched me take those few steps.

Since then, my progress has been exponential. Max left for Jam Pony a short while later, and Bling and I continued to work. He gave me a cane for some additional stability, and with that I have been able to freely move around the apartment. Tomorrow morning, I’m going for a walk. I know that I’m ready. I can’t believe how much the world has opened up for me or how wonderful it appears. For the first time in years, I feel that anything is possible.