Day 8: Wheeling Gypsy's Pilgrimage Begins
September 28, 2008
By the time I guiltily schlepped out of the ER (who can leave a loved one alone in the ER without feeling horrible), it was after 5pm. I gave myself an hour to get settled in Disney. First I needed to drive back to the church and retrieve my dad’s scooter, saving myself a trip the next day. I found the church ladies who’d helped me a few hours before and again they helped me load up my van. They were worried to send me out into the world alone, but we all took comfort knowing I was going to Disney. Because surely of all the places in the world where people would help those in need, it is the happiest place on Earth.
And I feared I needed lots of help. GM didn’t exactly leave me in the most independent position once he took his fall. I had his scooter in the middle of my van, had hit the mother of all potholes on the entrance road to Disney and half the stuff GM piled on the backseat had fallen all over the floor. My van is a specially adapted kind with a transfer driver’s seat that slides back to the middle of the van for me to get in and out. So I needed help clearing the junk out before I could even get out of my car.
I drove up to Boardwalk Villas and flagged down the first person I saw in a uniform. His name was Jose. He’s 20, just graduated with an EMT degree and has only one more month on the job. I thought he was a bellhop because he not only got my dad’s scooter out of the fan, he also loaded up the luggage cart and tagged it all for me. Then he got me permission to park right up in front of the building where the valets usually park cars called for or maintenance equipment. Turns out he was a valet who usually earns his living just parking cars. But here he was helping me unpack, pack and all the while smiling so I didn’t feel like I was being as much of an imposition as I knew I was.
Next I went in to the Front Desk and met a DVC member turned cast member named Susan. Told her my woes of the day and that I might need a little extra help getting settled into my room. She ended up telling the manager Simon Van Stetten and from then on BWV started treating me like a family member.
My room was on that floor (a fully accessible Boardwalk view studio, but with a balcony wall so high you need to stand to see the Boardwalk, not the best design for a handicapped room) and I did need some extra help. I drove right back out to Susan and said “Help please”. Maintenance came to lower the bed. (Instead of the HA 20″ bed it was a standard 26″ bed.) Maintenance was super busy with it being a Sunday, but they arrived promptly when they learned I was itching to head back to the hospital ER. I thank Housekeeper Helen for getting them on the walkie talkie to hurry them up. She had brought me a shower stool, lengthened it so it was just the right height and put the showerhead down so I could use it. Bell Services came over with my luggage, placing the suitcase on the sofa where I could reach inside, and even unpacking my cooler bag of groceries so they wouldn’t spoil.
I jetted back over to the hospital as I had left my dad in the ER almost 2 hours before. My guilt was unbearable. I said goodbye to Susan on my way past the Front Desk and again asked God to give me good news at the ER. A sprain please, Lord, no break. Alas when I arrived at the ER, my dad had the verdict. He broke his hip. Oh crap!
Things moved relatively quickly at the hospital. Within the hour he was moved upstairs to the 6th floor. The nurses had him stablized, even feeding him dinner. The surgeon would see him later and he’d have surgery the next day. With nothing left to do that night, and visiting hours long over, I drove back to BWV embarking on what was destined to be a solo journey.
It was 11:30pm and I was drained, physically and emotionally. They let me park the van up front as I did before (thanks valets!). And when I went inside the lobby was quiet save for two very nice people. Manager Simon (who speaks with a wonderful New Zealand accent) and Susan were there to greet me and get the word my dad had broken his leg. I told them I hadn’t eaten all day and needed to get out and grab something before everything closed. But instead Simon walked me back to my room, helped me setup my laptop and wheelchair charger and treated me to some room service for the night. There was no way they’d send me back out into the cold. As both told me, we are part of the Disney family and family takes care of one another.
I ate my supper, posted a note on the Disboards to the fans of the Grandpa Mohawk blog so they knew why it was interrupted, then returned several phone calls to my siblings back home.
I opened the balcony door so I could go to sleep and wake up to the sounds of the Boardwalk music.