November 25-26, 2024
In all things, life does go on.
As what usually happens in life, plans are constantly being made and adjusted along with out-of-town visits requested by grandkids via Facetime… All regardless of my still-recovering surgically repaired ankle’s ability to cooperate.
My wife and I have been blessed with several grandchildren. I’ve made it a point to attend as many of my grandchildren’s events as possible. However ,all of our grandchildren are located in cities that require a plane ride to efficiently/timely visit.
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving was just one of those events. “Special Friends Day”… the day of my kindergarten-aged grandson’s presentation along with a classroom and school tour.
I certainly wasn’t going to let my ruptured ankle get in the way of a special day with my grandson & family. NO WAY I WAS GOING TO MISS THIS EVENT… HE PERSONALLY ASKED ME TO BE THERE.
Generally, I enjoy travel… from the change of venues… the excitement of a new city… seeing my family and the special smiles and hugs that come along. But this travel had a set of new obstacles- specifically my inability to easily travel.
Compounding this scenario was the fact my wife would not be able to travel along with me due to work requirements.
A decision had to be made… do I travel alone with all my limitations or do I can cancel my travel plans and miss my grandson’s “Special Friends Day”?
Easy decision… I’m going!
My work experience is in logistics. I believe with the proper amount of prep and planning, any issue can be worked out.
Normally for air travel, I carry-on my bags. Not this time. I would need to check bags.
Do I request a wheelchair? I could, but would rather not. I have my crutches, and the airport will be busy with the increase in Thanksgiving holiday passengers. In my mind, it would be best to leave the wheelchairs for those with no other mobility options. That’s going to take some work for me to get around, but I do qualify for early boarding… so crutches it is.
I knew I would have a tough time ‘crutch pushing’ my bag- both ‘to be checked’ and ‘at baggage claim.’ While this is certainly not ideal, I see this as the only ‘major’ issue in a somewhat ‘different’ travel scenario.
Traveling solo made me think I would be ‘alone’ in the travel process. As it turns out, I wasn’t alone at all.
I must have been a sight… a 65-year-old man… on crutches… wearing a backpack… sporting a bright green cast… leg kicking a suitcase down the hall.
Where is “America’s Funniest Home Videos” when you need them?
However, this is where I my faith in humanity was restored… both on the outbound and inbound trips. Complete strangers would see my travel ‘plight’, and would stop what they were doing, and volunteer to help.
“Can I help you get your bag to your destination?” You bet!
“What can I do to help you?” Well… now that you’ve asked, could you please help me get this bag to the Uber area?
Big help when help was truly need.
Nothing in return was requested… I offered but all each person wanted was a smile and a word of thanks. I gladly provided both.
In this post-election/nation-is-split world we’re in, let’s take a moment to thank those nameless individuals that willingly volunteer to help a person in need at that very moment.
Thank you all as you certainly made a positive difference in my life!
Faith restored!
Let’s talk! Email at: RupturedRunner@gmail.com.
Ruptured Runner 
Leave a comment