Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Anyone ever leave something behind?

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.

10 comments:

Memzy said...

This is even better than the synopsis I heard irl (that's in real life mom). At least it wasn't the tricked out version that some teenager would have taken a ride on right? And it is very possible that I was texting Landee but I also coulda looked up that pollo loco numbah in a flash! But very YES--you should have an iphone. I think Uncle Visor agrees. It's a necessity.

Elder Jack Anderson said...

Oh no! The story of the wheelchair is sad in that then there was just one more thing for you to be worried about/figure out..... the story of Grandma leaving Uncle at the rest stop has now PUT ME OVER THE EDGE!! Oh my gosh! I bet Grandma R. felt sooooooooooo bad. I'm literally fighting back tears here.

I do feel better about just leaving TBone at church that one time. I mean, that's nothing now. :)

Elder Jack Anderson said...

Also, the beauty of the iPhone is multi-tasking. Memz could have been texting me, emailing JESP and still have looked up that number for you in .04 seconds. True story.

If you get one, it will srsly be like Happy Birthday to all of us!

Carol said...

What was I thinking? Of course Memz could have done 3 things at once. P-shah! And Landee--leaving Tbone at church IS NBD as he was protected by all those church folk, etc. Leaving him at a rest stop--much worse.

The iphone possibility makes me giddy.

Elder Jack Anderson said...

Where'd you get your new background from? It's way cutemous.

Carol said...

why thanks. thecutestblogontheblock.com

E said...

Yeah, since I've gotten my iPhone, I've never lost my wheelchair. So that's a legit argument in favor.

And Annie B. was left at a rest stop in ghetto N.LV once by her husband. I think she had been sitting in the front seat and everything. She'll have to retell that one. I'm sure it's a "look back and laugh" story by now, not a fresh wound or anything.

Br Boys said...

I never get really sad when I lose something because I know I can replace it with the new improved model. Sometimes I even lose things on purpose. (cell phones, hint, hint, wink)

Haines 5 said...

There's always a silver-lining with you! I love it...can I borrow it sometime? ;)

Hot Pants said...

You could have also called me. Since I don't have an iPhone, I have all kinds of free time to look up a number for you.
And the story of Annie getting left at the rest stop is one of my favs!