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.

 My dear friend Lori lives in California. We live in Phoenix. She has a husband, a home two children and a dog. Yet Lori volunteered to stay with me while Phil was in Boston.

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.