Today's post is sadly without pictures. Why, oh why do I always forget to take pictures of stressful situations. They make for such good posting. This story is meant to make you feel better if you've every left a kid at church, left your diet DP on the roof of your car as you drive away, left the water running in a sink while you talk on the phone. . . .stuff like that.
So Tuesday was a busy day full of good things. We met with the Veteran's office to complete the application process ( it's a new benefit for veteran's with
ALS--could be very helpful). We then headed down to L.A. for a temple session. Some may think this is no big deal--but it actually is. Brother Talbot (Amy's dad) works at the temple and was so kind to help Cris through the session. We stopped in Valencia at "
Pollo Loco" to have lunch. We eat lunch--I wheel him back to the car in his wheelchair, get him all loaded cozy nice, throw my purse in the back seat, and off we go. We arrive at the temple, park in the handicapped space, open the hatch back--------NO WHEELCHAIR.
AAAAAHHHHH! It appears I have left the wheelchair on the sidewalk at Polo Loco in Valencia--one hour back up the road.
I call Becca (who now has
Internet) and ask her to look up the phone number to
Pollo Loco. (
Memzy would have been my next call. I could have called her first but I knew she was
texting Landeelu) This is needed because I do not have an
iphone. This fact alone is a major selling point in my book and I think
me's getting one for my birthday--we'll see. I call
Pollo Loco and sure enough, they have it and will save it until we return.
We borrow a wheelchair from the temple, enjoy the session, appreciate the
Talbots, say goodbye and get back on the road heading north. This is not fun because we have a hotel in West Hollywood for the night as we have an 8:30 A.M. appointment at the Cedars
ALS clinic on Wednesday. Long story short, we get the wheelchair back, get to our hotel and all is well.
The Cedars visit was great!!! Cris will be getting a tricked out electric wheelchair sometime in the next few months. I'm pretty sure the
grand kids are going to want to test drive it.
The point of this story is to let you know when it happens to you, and it will--relax and use your best problem solving skills. It could always be worse. Case in point: In 1991 Cris' brother was ill with pancreatic cancer, separated from his wife and Cris' mother was taking care of him. They were traveling from Arizona to N. California in her small motor home. He was asleep in the back as he was very ill. She decided to stop at a rest stop to use the bathroom. She does her thing, gets back in the
motor home and gets back on the freeway. Two hours later she makes another stop to check on him.
He is not in the motor home. He had gotten out to use the bathroom at the first rest stop and she didn't know it. She was
hysterical but eventually realized he must have left the
motor home at the last rest stop. Some very nice people had given him a blanket to keep warm and stayed with him, knowing she would return eventually. Yup--took a long time for everyone to get over that one. So yeah, leaving something behind is
NBD--unless it's a kid.
Just say the word "ladder" in a sentence around kids and it's go time. Liesl and Owen came over to help pick Saturday and had a great time. Liesl wanted me to be her safety net.
We had to take turns and follow the safety rules. . .and yes, it was a bit muddy under that tree.
We picked two large buckets and 4 grocery sacks full and didn't even make a dent. We've had a couple of families come over and pick already. Still hundreds up there.
Fun times. Anyone is welcome to come over and take some home. Side gate always open.
