A married man kept spending long hours within the garage of the home he shared with his disabled wife. One day, she secretly followed him to find out why.
David and Betty were both in their mid-40s when they met. Both already had adult kids, but that did not stop them from falling very deeply in love with one another.
In fact, theirs was love at first sight. Their first meeting happened during a hike into the forest. They ran side by side for long periods, leaving the less fit hikers behind them so that when they stopped to catch their breaths, they were alone in the forest.
Betty was pleased David could keep up with her, and he was astounded at her stamina. They both became friends that day and started inviting each other for hiking expeditions.
It became their favorite pastime, and they made many beautiful memories together. They also got closer and more intimate until they started dating. The relationship got so serious; they started considering getting married. However, it all changed one fateful evening.
The two lovebirds had been returning from a hike in their car when they ran over a nail that pierced the vehicle’s front tire. David lost control of the car after that, and they ended up in an accident.
David got away with only minor injuries, but Betty suffered a fracture to her spine, which made her unable to use her legs again. She was confined to a life in a wheelchair.
It was very difficult for Betty because she had been a very active person. Her non-functioning legs meant she would never be able to do most of the things she enjoyed anymore, especially hiking with her husband, who still had both legs working.
In the first few months after the accident, David tried to avoid hiking; even when their colleagues would reach out with invitations, he would reject them. He kept doing that until Betty begged him not to.
She let him know her problem should in no way stop him from enjoying what he loves, and even though he refused to listen at first, he eventually started hiking again.
However, despite the fact that she gave her blessing, Betty couldn’t help feeling cheated. She slowly became depressed, and eventually, she started trying to discourage David from marrying her.
“I’m a cripple!” she shouted one day when David asked her why she was trying so hard to be done with him.
“And I don’t care,” he replied. “I have eyes to see and I’m still bent on marrying you.”
“But I can’t be the woman you fell in love with anymore,” she sobbed.
“The woman I fell in love with is still in there and not being able to walk does not change that.”
The following week, David proposed to Betty, and she reluctantly agreed. They got married in a church and moved into their new home, which was a mansion that led into a forest Betty would have loved to hike through.
She got more depressed every day, thinking about the things she could no longer do. There was a tear waiting to be shed for each time her wheelchair got stuck in the grass whenever she tried to explore even a bit of the forest behind their home.
David saw her crying one day after such an occurrence and decided to do something about it. Soon Betty noticed that he would go into the garage all day.
She got suspicious when she tried and failed to get into the garage to see what he was up to. He had hidden the keys to make sure she couldn’t find her way into the room.
It only made her more curious, so one day she watched him leave to use the restroom. He lowered the garage door as he left, but Betty was able to coast through before it shut, thanks to her wheelchair.
The garage looked unrecognizable, with spare vehicle parts and the stench of oil everywhere. But one look around revealed what David was spending all his time on — it was a new wheelchair.
David walked in on her before she could find out more about the unusual wheelchair.
“What are you doing here hon? This was supposed to be a surprise,” he said.
“Tell me about it David,” she told him. And he did.
“I call it the wheelchair tank and I made it to help you hike with me. I saw how much you wanted to, so I decided to do this for you. It can ride over any surface including the forest and it is very safe.”
Betty’s eyes welled with tears, realizing how much her husband loved her. “Thank you so much David,” was all she managed to say.
The next day, David put the finishing touches on the wheelchair and Betty took it for a spin. It worked so well, and she was able to enjoy a hike again after such a long time.
In the months that followed, people like Betty began to buy replicas of the wheelchair David built, and soon it became a popular thing among the disabled, making David a wealthy man in the process. And it all happened because of his desire to continue hiking with his wife.
What did we learn from this story?
Thoughtfulness is important in every relationship. David noticed how much it hurt his wife to be kept away from the outdoors because of her disability, so he thought up a way to help her. His brainstorming led to the creation of the wheelchair tank, which helped not just his wife but many other disabled people to return to their dream activities.
True love is often unconditional. When David’s wife lost her ability to walk, she thought he would want nothing to do with her, so she tried to push him away. He resisted and stuck by her, even marrying her despite all her discouragement. Why? Because he had found his soul mate, and no accident could change that.
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