Best Friend Forever (BFF)
This past July my husband
needed to go back home to Boston to visit his mom. He had not seen his family for over a year,
and I had been encouraging him to go. He was very worried about leaving me
alone for a week since I cannot walk or drive and I use a wheelchair full-time.
He was worried that I would fall or worse.
I really could not go with him since his mom’s home is an older home
with many stairs, one non wheelchair accessible bathroom and is generally not
wheelchair accessible at all.
She made the six-hour drive
to Phoenix and arrived on a Tuesday afternoon. We had a wonderful week together
and there is no way I can ever thank her enough. Not only did we have time to
catch up and have some fun together, but she also took care of me, my house and
Max, my dog.
I could not slow her down.
She insisted on vacuuming my house, changing the sheets on my bed, doing
laundry, and taking the dog for a walk. She even made me deviled eggs on her last
night here so that I would have something to eat before Phil came home. When I try to tell her that her company alone
was appreciated and she did not need to do all of these things her response was
that she would be doing this at home anyway. I could not convince her to slow
down.
I have a Van with a
wheelchair lift in the back and a passenger seat that comes down so that I can sit
next to the driver.. I do not drive. Phil made a manual of how this all works.
He made a point of saying that in the heat the lift will sometimes get stuck
and you have to jiggle it a little to get it in and out.
Well of course July in
Phoenix is extremely hot and this year was one of the hottest on record. One day we were out and about going to lunch
at the Olive Garden and then running a few errands when lo and behold the lift
got stuck. I was already seated in the passenger seat. Lori had the wheelchair
tied on the lift and halfway into the Van when it stopped working. It would not
go up, it would not go down, I could not get out to help her… What were we going
to do? She tried for several minutes but
just could not get it working. I even suggested we call the police. Finally
hair dripping wet and exhausted she noticed a man and his young son in the
parking lot just getting out of their car. She asked them if they could come
over and help. They did and between the three of them they got the lift and the
wheelchair into the car. We drove directly home and stayed there!
It was a wonderful week. Phil
got to visit with his family and I got
to visit with my best friend. Lori still insists it was no big deal, but it was
a very big deal for me, and there are no words to thank her enough. My wish is that everyone could have a BFF
like Lori.