A Trip Down Memory Lane

Will decided to sit out this trip. My mom had been wanting to visit her sister as Pat’s memory is failing and aging is making travel increasingly difficult for my parents. Both my mom and dad were going to be traveling and are in their 80’s, so, for this trip I enlisted the help of my daughter. She at least was excited about returning to the mid-west, (even if she had to hang out with the old people to get there).

Both my parents use wheelchair assistance when flying, it’s just too much walking for them. Unfortunately, wheelchair attendants are hard to come by at the airports these days. Like most everywhere, the airports are short staffed. Good thing, I brought Melissa to assist. As I was parking the car, Melissa was getting everyone checked-in. We discovered that my mom had been put on a different flight. With all the scheduling changes that the airline had made, I missed the fact that my mom was not moved to the same flights as the rest of us. The ticket agent was great and got my mom on the correct flight, whew. Not having enough wheelchair attendants becomes an issue when you are getting on and off the flight. While no one had a problem with my daughter and I pushing my parents all over the airport itself, we were not allowed to push them up or down the jetway. So, that involved quite a bit of waiting around after landing.

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My mom got to spend a few days visiting her sister. My cousin Kathy lives with her mom and is Pat’s caregiver. Her brother, Don and wife, Jen only live about 20 minutes away and help out with Pat’s caregiving as well. So, it was great to see them again as well as their son Gabe. It’s been about 8 years since, we’ve seen my aunt and even longer since I’d seen my cousins.

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My mom used to teach in the area over 50 years ago and we took a trip down memory lane as we tried to find the school where she taught. The middle school where she taught has gone through a number of changes. It’s now an alternative high school, has gone through a name change, and has been expanded and renovated.

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We also got the chance to visit some of my dad’s relatives as well. One of my cousins lives about 30 minutes from my aunt and other cousins drove down from the Upper Peninsula and elsewhere in Michigan for a mini-weekend “cousin reunion”.

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We had a great time catching up and going to the Tiger’s Baseball game. Too bad the Tigers lost, but it was a great night for a game and Melissa enjoyed the free drinks everyone was buying her for her birthday.

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We made the 4 1/2 hour drive from the Detroit area down to the south suburbs of Chicago. My mom also wanted to visit my brother and see her grandkids, since it’s been YEARS, since she’s seen them. It’s been 2 years, but you know, to a grandma that seems like a lifetime. Gigi is 9 and she’s still being homeschooled until there’s a vaccine that gets approved for her age group. Gavin is back in school, but was happy to stay home for a couple of days to visit with us.

Melissa came up with the idea to fly kites and much to my brothers surprise they had a number of kites in the house. My parents enjoyed watching the kite flying and my dad even got out there and proved the old man still had the touch.

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We left my brother in charge of the parents and Melissa and I left to visit my first husbands family. Germaine’s sisters and mother still live in the Chicago area as well as some of their kids. Chanta had a nice barbeque at her place for us. It was great to also meet a few of the nephews and the niece that I had never met before.

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With some time to kill before our flight, we also made it out to visit my mom’s friend Donna. Donna lives in the town where I graduated high school, so, we took another stroll down memory lane. We drove through old neighborhoods where we had lived and I had gone to school. It was then off to our flight out of Chicago and back home once again.

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