Nothing Special

Grand Island

August 2013

Page 2

Kellisa has been through 36 U.S. airports and I can assure you that Detroit’s airport is by far the most difficult to navigate through with a wheelchair and baggage. We arrived on time and headed towards baggage claim to get our checked baggage (which was quite a load since I had Kellisa’s Freedom Mobility Chair, travel wheelchair, luggage and all of our backpacking gear). Next, we headed for the rental car bus pick-up area. Leaving the baggage claim area, we struggled to fit on an elevator to go up one floor. A huge thank you to the gentleman, who had his own young family to navigate through the airport, for helping to hold the elevator door open as we boarded even though there wouldn’t be enough room for his family.

After the elevator ride, we made a few turns, walked across a skywalk, made a couple more turns and rode another elevator down to the same level we just left minutes before. Once we were back on ground level, we made a slight turn, squeezed through sliding glass doors and proceeded to the location of our rental car company’s bus pick-up area. We were probably less than a hundred yards from the baggage claim area, but it’s not connected and that’s why we had to take make so many turns and ride two elevators.

Our bus pulls up and Kellisa bends over with excited anticipation. Kellisa loves riding on a bus because it’s usually a bumpy, noisy ride. The bus that pulled up in front of us had a wheelchair lift which only increases the excitement. Kellisa did her usual curling her head between her knees as she giggled and struggled not to hyperventilate.

The bus driver was a friendly lady in her late 40’s to early 50’s that seemed genuinely happy to be at her job. While she was lifting a row of seats to make room for the wheelchair, she paid me the following compliments: “thank you for restoring my faith in men and fathers, there’s still hope”. I didn’t ask for details, but figured she had been burned at some point in her life.

The bus driver went out of her way to drop us off as close as possible to our SUV and helped with our small mountain of gear. As I thanked her and gave her a tip, she again thanked me for making her day and she told me how “special” Kellisa was. It made me feel good all the way around even though I always feel awkward when people think I’m doing something special.

I don’t do anything different for Kellisa because she can’t physically do things herself. We do what she likes; it just looks different because I have to be her arms, legs and back. Helping your daughter have fun is a father’s responsibility, it’s nothing special. I guess it’s an unexpected sight to some. It makes me sad and motivates me to spread Kellisa’s story that we never see other disabled kids in the outdoors, but I’m sure there are many “able bodied” kids that don’t get the chance either. We’d still be visiting Grand Island if she was a physically functioning 14 year old who loved outdoor adventures.

With the SUV loaded, I set the GPS to Ashland, OH and started our long drive.

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Flying to Detroit

Grand Island

August 2013

Page 1

Kellisa and I planned a late summer vacation trip back to Grand Island, MI in early August. We made reservations to fly to Detroit and then planned to drive the rest of the way to Munising, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the launching point to Grand Island.

I was reading the Wild by Cheryl Strayed the week before our trip about her 1,100 mile solo hike of the Pacific Coast Trail in California and Oregon. Late one night, I went to Cheryl’s website and read that she was giving a presentation in Ashland, OH on the same day we were scheduled to arrive in Detroit. A quick look at the map and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ashland was only 142 miles from the Detroit airport, although it was in the opposite direction of where we were headed.

Keeping our scheduled itinerary would be cutting it close to arrive at the presentation on time, but we didn’t have any other options. I decided the opportunity was too good to pass up when Cheryl didn’t have any speaking engagements anywhere in the Southeast on her schedule.

We had an extremely tight connection in Nashville. Knowing this in advance, I checked Kellisa’s travel wheelchair and used an airport wheelchair to get her from the ticket counter to the airplane in Jacksonville. This would allow us to get off the plane in Nashville faster because we wouldn’t have to wait for her chair to come up from the underneath of the airplane (we are usually last off the plane). All the airport wheelchairs are usually lined up when a plane arrives (even though most if not all won’t be needed). I carried Kellisa off the plane first, set her in an airport wheelchair and quickly proceeded to our connecting gate.

When we arrived, the boarding process already started. Since we always fly Southwest, we knew we were in trouble because they don’t assign seats. On most of our flights, Kellisa is the first to board and I can easily carry her to the front row of seats- the real reason why we fly Southwest. I usually place Kellisa at the window because too many people would bang into her arm and possibly snap it backwards as Kellisa waves to say “hi” with her outstretched arms without being seen.

We made our way down to the plane and the first half of the plane was mostly full. Whenever I purchase a ticket for Kellisa, I always indicate all of her disabilities and Southwest usually holds two of the front seats when we have a tight connection. For some reason, this did not happen for this flight and we came to a stop at the front of the plane.

A flight attendant stepped up once she realized our needs and explained the situation to those seated in the front row and in an instant, a gentleman on the aisle of the front row jumped up and volunteered to move towards the back (huge Thank You!). The middle seat was still open, so we were set. I always sit in the middle because Kellisa would be a little too friendly (touching, tickling, etc.) with any stranger who sat next to her because in her mind, they would be sitting there to be her friend. I held my arm around her to keep her arms close and we would soon be off to our final destination- Detroit. Everything always seems to work out when we fly Southwest and I’m never disappointed.

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Grand Island- August 2013

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