It started off as a lovely, cool morning. I thought it was a good day to bring my son over to my mother's place. No need to walk in the hot sun.
So I pushed my son there in his wheelchair. All good for some time. We reached my mother's place in good time after some 15 to 20 minutes or so. Not long after, the sky threatened to rain.
I decided to get home fast with my son before it rained. My knees at that time were injured due to overuse (another story), but in the hurry, the pain was forgotten.
I walked fast as I pushed my son in his wheelchair, hoping to beat the rain before it came.
But the rain came fast and heavy. We were halfway home when it started to pour. We were caught in a thunderstorm. The thunder was loud.
We took shelter at a small rental bicycle shed at Pasir Ris Town Park. There were other people taking shelter there too. With strong wind and heavy rain, we would get drenched in no time.
The loud, crackling thunder frightened my son. He was cold and shivering. The umbrella was of little use. We did not have a raincoat. I wanted something to keep him warm as his hands and legs were icy cold because of wind and rain. I was afraid he would fall sick from being caught in the rain.
I turned to the rental bicycle operator and asked if he had a big piece of plastic. I asked for the big, black plastic bag used to line rubbish bin.
He was kind enough to spare me one. I made a hole in the bag and slipped it over my son. The plastic would act like a windbreaker and would at least keep his body warm.
In a desperate time, one can't really care that the plastic bag was meant for the rubbish bin. It served its purpose. At least it would keep my son's body warm.
We waited. The minutes went by. The rain showed no sign of abating and lightning and thunder continued to flash and crack.
The park was flooded ankle deep. I was caught between waiting and wanting to get my son home as fast as I could so that I could quickly bath and give him a change of clothes and warm him up.
I decided we would not wait for the rain to stop as it looked like it wouldn't stop anytime soon.
So I bent down with the open umbrella propped on my shoulder while I pushed my son on the wheelchair through the water in the park to make our way home.
It was not easy as my son kept slipping down in the seat and every so often, I had to stop in the rain to pull him up. So I had a number of things to do: keep the open umbrella propped on my shoulder to give us a some shelter, push the wheelchair, make sure my son did not slip off the chair (the seat belt was of little help), keep him balanced on the chair.
It seemed like ages and we finally reached the road at Drive 1. We crossed the road and up onto the pavement. And guess what?
The rain stopped. It stopped just as we reached home. To be honest, I don't know whether to be thankful or not.
I was just glad that we reached home. I gave my son a quick shower to wash away the rainwater, and then warm him up with some towels.
Thankfully, he did not fall sick after this incident.
When all was over, I realised my knees which had been very painful due to fluid retention caused by injury, did not feel any pain during that challenging time, that I was able to stoop and walk hurriedly with bent knees without experiencing the pain. Perhaps that was the other thing I could be thankful for.
This happened more than 10 years ago. It was also my son's first experience in the rain. Janet was our helper at that time.
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