In my line of work I have the opportunity to give considerable thought to what's easy and what's difficult to navigate with age. I moved into this house about 7 years ago. I was still in my 40's but I had already committed myself to buying a home without any stairs required in the course of daily living. Believe me, once you see a person over the age of 25 try to negotiate stairs with crutches you become a believer in the ranch-style house.
Stairs are an interesting obstacle throughout the course of most American life. As an infant scooting around the house on all fours, stairs are that precipice which seduces the little critter to possible disaster. Both the challenge of ascent and the independence of descent afford the oportunity to meet with catastophic consequences.
Entering your teens another layer of challenges are presented by the staircase: Stairs have to be ever so quietly negotiated if one is to return home after hours or sneak out undetected. Should you have been raised in a home with both front and back stairs, so much the easier. But still, hang on, don't knock anything off its roost on that staircase, and hope they don't squeak to expose your covert operations.
Advancing age offers the next stage in difficult navagation in the stairways of life. As mentioned, the ups and downs become treacherous what with crutches, cane, and walker. I once had a friend (Marla, where are you?) who elected to have both bunions whacked off on the same day. She later told me how she would travel her stairs each day going up and down via tush. Difficult at best. And if your bathroom is at only one end or the other of that staircase...good luck.
Finally there is that time in life where, once again as with your infancy, stairs become a life threatening obstacle. I've met more than a few patients after they've slipped, misstepped or just downright tumbled down the stairs. The consequences are broken hips, ankles, arms and wrists. It can be worse.
A staircase is really one of those grand ornaments in a home. The homes I grew up in and around all had staircases and some were quite spectacular. Stairs are wonderful to race down at the crack of dawn on Christmas Day to see what Santa left. Stairs are great to come running down to greet your Prince Charming standing below, waiting for his date. Stairs are great for lining up the whole family for that perfect multigenerational family portrait-- just don't let Grandma fall.
For me, now and in the future, I'll take mine dwellings on a single level. You can snap my portrait sitting in a chair, center stage, walker off set.
Happy landings
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