Jessica and I have been looking at all kinds of suitcases for Namine. We’re leaning towards getting the kind with a hard shell — as opposed to a fabric outside — the better to sustain potential abuse. We have a set of suitcases, but they’ve seen their share of use and abuse already. It makes sense to us to get Namine a new one, especially for her Make A Wish vacation.
Namine’s first choice, of course, was the Hello Kitty suitcase. It was nice and hard, like we wanted, and it had Hello Kitty, like Namine wanted. Win-win.
Unfortunately, the handle was a problem. We needed the handle to be a loop, not a “T” shape, so it could hold onto Namine’s wheelchair handle. I managed to MacGyver it using Namine’s purse strap, but of course this could not be a long-term solution.
Interestingly enough, the “real” looking suitcases that we tried out were, with the exception of the handle style, less satisfactory than the Hello Kitty suitcase. For starters, the outside seemed less sturdy, the plastic shell more wobbly and not so firm.
The position of the wheels was also a concern. They gray suitcase we tried, when resting on Namine’s wheelchair handle bar, did not roll on its wheels so much as drag on the ground. I suppose it was never meant to be touching the ground at that steeper angle.
We tried a purple suitcase next, and its wheels seemed a little better suited to the steeper angle demanded by Namine’s wheelchair. Namine herself still preferred the Hello Kitty suitcase, but was understanding as to the reason why we couldn’t get it.
We ended up not buying anything today. The search continues, but we’re in no rush yet. In the meantime, Namine enjoyed trying out different suitcases. It’s certainly an experience for us, too, as we look for something that can be used in a way for which it was never intended.
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