Day 27: The Pilgrims Return Home (and realize what they've learned)
October 17, 2008
Now I can give you a brief overview of our travel day home, but I want you to remember one thing before I go on. This trip the one thing I was most pleased to learn, the one thing I expected and was never disappointed, was just how truly wonderful the cast members at Disney are.
When I left church the day my dad fell and the church ladies fretted over sending me out into the world alone, they knew that I would be alright because I was headed to Disney. We hear a lot on this board about the things that go wrong. And sure there are mishaps and annoyances, but they are minor compared to the magic and goodwill Disney bottles in its employees. None of them do it for the money and I guess that’s why they are so good. Whenever I’m there I wish I lived in Florida and could apply for a job at Disney instead. At the very least I am so glad I decided to join DVC and make Disney a second home for me. After all, home is where you are best understood.
As for our travel day home, it worked almost exactly as I had envisioned days before. We woke up, packed our carryons, loaded them on the back of my powerchair. I propped open the door with a doorjamb leftover from Walmart, loaded GM’s walker on his scooter and took one last look in the drawers.
If anything went wrong it was the one drawer my cousin and I forgot to check when loading the van the day before. It was filled with my extra shoes. So that meant we needed to buy a bag to check. I came away with one of those black & white Disney tote bags and a DVC luggage tag.
We ate breakfast while waiting for ME. The lift-equipped ME bus arrived promptly at 9:30am and the driver loaded us both in the back. He dropped us off at Terminal A, closer to Southwest. We rode the elevator up to level 3, were ushered past the jammed JetBlue ticket lines and right up to Southwest’s gate. Agent Rosemary hopped in and out behind the ticket counter to red tag our medical equipment (tells the airline what our equipment is, how to handle it and that it is not counted as luggage). We ended up checking two bags (the shoes and our clothing duffle bag) which indicates that we’d have no problem checking luggage in future.
We were directed through nthe wheelchair lanes at Security and even the TSA folks were super nice to us. Hopping the tram to Gate 129 for check-in and a quick trip to the restroom and we were ready for boarding.
Southwest is truly terrific with disabled folks. They kindly allow us to board first and take our chairs right down to the plane. The flight attendants and baggage handlers were great helping us stow our carryons and making sure we were seated safely. Because we boarded first we were allowed to get seats in that very first row with the extra leg room. GM and I both took medicine for our expected stiffness and pain. Then we settled into the flight sharing our last seat with Sandra, a solo traveller from Australia who’s vacationing in the US for 5 weeks.
The plane took off for BWI at 12:35pm and was on time with a touchdown of 2:45pm. Now while us wheelies are allowed to board first, we are also the very last to deplane at the other end. So we waited in baltimore for the baggage handlers to bring up my chair and GM’s scooter.
My brother never made it to the gate but as it turned out we had more than enough helping hands around. I counted about 4 baggage handlers and a half dozen flight attendants doing everything from retrieving our carry-ons to reattaching my footrest. And when GM’s jury-rigged walker holder broke (it was only a bracket held up with zip ties), baggage handler Matthew offered to carry his walker for him all the way to baggage claim. Matthew even helped me retrieve our two checked bags and was just showing me to the ladies room when my brother came running up calling my name. Apparently he had spent the last hour waiting in line trying to get a pass to get through security to meet us at the gate. (For those of you following, yes I did smile inwardly over that one. A bit of poetic justice, eh?)
Anyway, my cousin had arrived at our house earlier that morning and spent the time moving things about, unpacking and getting us ready to live out the next 4 weeks here as GM recuperates. Both my brothers ended up being there that day, along with my nephew and my uncle. My SIL had sent food for dinner and GM got to tell his story to the whole family.
The last weekend has been a busy one for us. We’ve had to get help when we could from family (they still have such busy schedules) and develop procedures for how to do things ourselves.
Now I’ve lived with JRA and its subsequent disability for 30 years. I’m used to limited mobility and all the hazards of living that life. And I’ve learned one most important axiom… never say can’t. I’ve been busy showing GM the ropes and together we’ve developed methods of doing everything from the laundry to taking out the trash. Today we did a round of doctor’s appointments, blood tests and pharmacy runs. (Seems my cold has turned into infected ears. Too much congestion.)
We still have a lot left to do. And along the way GM is bringing a fresh perspective to this life of temporary disability. At last he’s understanding why I do the things I do or fret over the things I fret over. He hates being dependent, hates waiting on someone else for help, and has even learned to abhor non-automatic doors. And I guess I feel satisfied that this life God sent me to lead has given me the skills and perspective I need to show GM the way through.
As for our family, well we try not to be too hard on them. They are actually a very caring bunch but cursed with able-bodied ignorance. They honestly do not know what confusion they cause and would be appalled if they did. Maybe when life calms down for them, kids’ schedules settle, and they finally are gifted with the time to think they’ll learn for themselves. Until then we just love them for who they are and cherish that we have each other to muddle through.
Now one last parting thought on our journey. As GM and I were getting into the van today (using another jury-rigged method to ensure no one blocked us out of our car), GM thought of that last night we went to the Adventurer’s Club in PI before it closed. He said that’s why I dragged him there, because as soon as it closed the Adventurers were bound to go off on another grand adventure in the real world. And as we all know adventure is both wonderful and terrifying. There are joys of accomplishments and perils of failure. It’s exhausting but never boring. And when you think about it, isn’t that the kind of life worth living?