Travel Mercies
I did end up requesting a wheelchair in the airports on the way home. It felt strange and embarrassing, but it really helped me not to be quite so utterly exhausted and barely-functional for the next few days. On the way out there I had a difficult time making it through the airports--especially the huge Atlanta airport. I had trouble getting from one gate to the other in time and carrying my purse and carry-on, and was especially tired and sore the next couple of days. Especially since I'm still recovering from mono, it just doesn't take much for me to overdo it.
I had been able to rest a lot after flying out there, but I knew I needed to be functional to take care of the kids when I got home. Ideally I would have liked to just have a cart transport me from gate to gate, but they didn't have that available, so a wheelchair was the best option. Still, it felt odd. I wasn't even sure how much to tip the skycaps for pushing me around.
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Sis J and I were both tired and not feeling well after I arrived in SC, so we spent most of the next day (Wednesday) resting. Of course, it's not a good thing that we both have health issues, but it was kind of nice in a way that we both were moving at a slow pace and needed lots of rest. Neither of us was really holding the other back, or sitting around bored while the other took naps. We both rested as much as we could and were constantly looking for ways to conserve spoons. We spent much of the time napping and doing things like giving each other backrubs, scrounging for "safe" food, or lying down resting while we chatted.
I got to rest quite a bit more than J did during my visit, because I didn't have to be at all the activities. So I'd sleep 11 or 12 hours at night and then usually rest some more in the afternoon. J arranged rides for me back and forth from her apartment to the school when there were events I wanted to attend, which was really helpful.
It's funny; even though J surely felt worse than I did, she was always looking out for me. She could see right through me, too. I'd start feeling like I needed to sit down and she'd take one look at me and say, "We need to find someplace for you to rest."
I tried to look out for her, too. So then we'd both be asking each other if we were ok. J tried to make sure I had places to sit down when I needed to, and I watched out for things like sloped walkways and flashing lights that I knew would give her problems and tried to help with what I could.
When the rest of my family (my parents and little sister Sparrow) arrived, we were chuckling because we made quite a team. Mom had fallen and hurt her knees a few days before, and of course she has to be careful about a lot of things and keep to a strict medication schedule because of her kidney transplant. Sparrow, Sis J and I all have wierd health issues which involve chronic pain and fatigue, as well as food intolerances and some other stuff. Dad doesn't have any major health issues, but he seemed pretty tired after the trip. So we were all constantly checking on each other and joking around about things like brain fog.
Even though I missed DH and the kids, it was kind of fun to be just the 5 of us for a few days . . . Mom, Dad and we three sisters. We went grocery shopping together and I fixed a meal we could all eat, which was nice. And we all ate lots of chocolate. :)
The trip was special for me. I got to spend time with my family, especially Sis J who I hadn't seen for several months. I wished I could have helped Sis J more with things like laundry, but at least I brought her some food she could eat and got to spend time visiting with her.
I really enjoyed being at my old school, attending events and visiting with some friends from when I was a student there. It was especially nice that I got to see both of the teachers who were the most special to me (my favorite writing and speech teachers), and that they remembered me and encouraged me to continue in the skills they helped me develop. It was especially neat that I "just happened" to run into my speech teacher after being unable to find her listed in the yearbook or in the school directories. I'm so delighted that the Lord allowed me to find her just sitting on a bench on campus when she and I both had a few minutes free to visit.
It was a good trip. I'm glad I went.
Labels: special occasions, travel
2 Comments:
I'm so glad you had a chance to go and that you are allowing yourself to accomodate the gorilla.
Hugs!
It was a fun trip, and turns out most of my grades (from the tests right after the trip) survived afterall. ;-)
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