We use cookies to improve our services and remember your choices for future visits. For more information see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. When our children were little, my husband and I would hire a babysitter and go on a backpacking date, bringing a picnic of bread, Brie, pears, olives, a bottle of wine, and a big cotton blanket. One spring day we hiked a familiar trail through bay laurels and towering redwoods to a rolling meadow containing a single tree: a California oak. It was majestic and far from the main path.
Its lower branches hung close to the ground, creating a round skirt of shade, perfect for a picnic. We swept away acorns and spread out the blanket, arranging the food on one side and ourselves on the other. The tree limbs gently creaked. My husband took my hand and pulled me close for a kiss. The wheatgrass waved in the meadow. There were no children tugging at our sleeves, asking questions, whining, giggling β just rustling leaves, buzzing insects, and chirping birds.
I was about to open the wine when my husband took off my shirt and theatrically tossed it away so that it caught on a branch. I laughed as he removed his clothes and piled them into a pillow for our heads. I wiggled out of my jeans and straddled him. At first I thought it was music drifting from some faraway radio. Hearing this, I fell flat on top of my husband and started to laugh.
My husband had the good idea to grab the edge of the blanket and pull it over me. The Brie slipped between my knees. I think I heard a few snickers from the crowd. As their guide took them deeper into the woods, we went back to celebrating Arbor Day in our own way. I started with his hands, firmly but gently bending each of his fingers to improve the range of motion. He was an incomplete quadriplegic β meaning he had some, but not much, sensation and motor control from the neck down.
I was a home-care physical therapist tasked with increasing his mobility. Over the course of three months, during our five-day-a-week sessions, we had many conversations that ended with laughter or tears.
