As you may recall, when Taylor first returned to Los Angeles from Craig Hospital, she was still in a wheelchair.  It actually is a BIG help to be able to park in one of those large handicap spots if you have to wheel a wheel chair next to the car to get your passenger in and out.  Thus, we applied for a handicap placard when Taylor first returned home.  I remember when we went to the DMV to get the handicap placard with Taylor.  We had filled in the application to get the temporary placard.  When she saw this, the woman behind the counter helping us said, “Are you sure you don’t want to get a permanent one?”  “No!” we said.  We definitely wanted the temporary one because we only wanted positive energy that Taylor was getting better.  It struck us as strange that we, not a physician, could choose whether we wanted a temporary or permanent placard.  Also, it cost $6 to get the temporary, whereas there was no cost to get the permanent placard (no wonder the system is abused).  The first time we tried to use the placard at one of Taylor’s doctor’s appointments, all the handicap spots were taken, despite there being 2 long rows on 2 different floors of designated spots!  We ended up parking in a regular spot, which happened to be barely large enough for me to move Taylor’s wheelchair between our car and the next car.

Well, yesterday, Christmas Eve, Taylor’s temporary handicap placard expired, and we are not renewing it.  If you have been following our posts, you will know that Taylor has been walking for some time now.  She is even getting into and out of cars by herself and can buckle her seatbelt by herself about 75% of the time.  Good-bye handicap placard!