When you spend your life in a wheelchair, you get approached with a lot of questions. Strangers want to know, “How’d you wind up in that thing?” Acquaintances ask, “Any progress on the cure?” or “Have you tried moving anything lately?” Kids mostly want to know how I drive the thing. Oh, and how I pee. Over the last calendar year…

At long last, we are finally home. It’s hard to wrap your head around any road trip a few short hours after it’s concluded, let alone one this short yet somehow so packed with drama. Let’s just say it’s that educational at the very least. Yes, I hit every destination I’d planned to, and was able to see more…

We’ve all heard the saying, “Stick with what works.” But what if everything you’ve done up to this point has resulted in varying levels of catastrophe as has been the case so far with this road trip? Say fuck it, and double down. We started off the morning with breakfast on the Stanford campus with Fiona and Will. Technically,…

It’s always hard leaving my grandparents’ house. I don’t take a single moment I have with them for granted, because even anecdotal conversations with those lovebirds is sprinkled with wisdom on life, love and how to stay happy into your 10th decade. From the way Grandpa still insists Grandma take his hand up and down…

A surprise visit from relatives I haven’t seen in almost 15 years was a real treat for Claire and me. My dad’s brother Larry, his daughter Tonya and her son Bentley showed up around noon with Larry’s wife Sherri and her granddaughter Tatiana. Suddenly we had four generations of Salvini’s under one roof. Bentley showed zero fear…

After traipsing all around the Southwestern states, getting lost (twice) and almost running out of gas (TWICE) this picture pretty well sums up our trip to the Grand Canyon this afternoon. I’m amazed we made it to Twentynine Palms in one piece.

Somewhere deep down I knew Las Vegas wasn’t going to let me leave without one last metaphorical bitch slap, but I naïvely assumed I’d earned a drama-free Date Night. Silly me. All it took was a five-minute ride from the Rio to Harrah’s to illustrate just how crucial a precision-fit wheelchair truly is. Things like custom seatbacks and specifically placed armrests…