Philadelphia (Philly)

Last week Ken and I took a vacation of sorts and went to Philadelphia to volunteer at the 34th National Veterans Wheelchair Games. All in all, it was a good trip, and I learned a few things along the way.

1. It's Philly, not Philadelphia.
2. Whoever decided that the trip would take 7 hours, plus stops, was crazy. It took us nearly 10 hours, and I know we didn't stop 3 hours. Plenty of construction zones and a fairly steady rain helped to slow us down.
3. Walkers aren't made to go on escalators. Ken figured he could carry my walker up the escalator at the train station, rather than walking to the elevator. He fell, my walker kept on going, and then he was on his back, sliding down all the steps that were still going up. Fortunately, the fall didn't hurt much more than his pride.
4. When volunteering, don't expect to do the job you signed up for. I really didn't get to do much, mainly because they already had enough people to cover the events. On Ken's first day, he was to pass out water and towels to the athletes who requested them. Trouble was, there were so many others doing the same thing, that if three athletes approached, ten volunteers jumped up.

So after three days of doing little or nothing, we decided to call it quits and head back to Ohio, even though we hadn't seen any of the tourist things like the Art Museum (a la "Rocky") or the Liberty Bell. I did have a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich at the Philly Diner next door to our hotel. I've had better ones in Ohio.

We had been promising my former in-laws a visit for the past two years, but never made it. This time we did. We got off the PA turnpike at the PA/WV state line and drove down OH-7 to Belpre. It was so good to see Ron and Donna. She's had Parkinson's for 28 years and, in my opinion, is not doing well. That's why I was so anxious to see her. Ron is doing an amazing job of taking care of Donna, and he has some help for a couple of hours every day. They are still so in love with each other; next July, they will celebrate 60 years of marriage.

The main purpose of the trip, volunteering for the Games, was disappointing. Leaving Philly without seeing any of its famous landmarks was disappointing. Going to Belpre and seeing Donna in her current condition was heart-wrenching. Spending hours in the car with each other without wanting to kill the other person was a blessing. And the final thing I learned from this trip:

5. No matter how hard the VA begs and pleads with us, we're NOT going to the 35th Games next year in Dallas!

To catch up on my old blog, till next time...

And so on … 6/13/10

I wondered how long it would take till I forgot about this blog. Only two months this time. That’s an improvement.
So what’s been happening in my life since mid-April? The biggest thing would have to be The House. I signed the closing documents on April 30; the house is mine! Now, of course, all the headaches start. I think I traded one set of nightmares for another.
The worst is our homeowner’s insurance being canceled, purportedly due to some structural issues on the house. Personally, I think it’s because the insurance company is scared of the boarded-up houses on either side of us and across the street. Nothing I can do about that.
The gutters have been fixed, we bought mortar to fix the foundation, and Ken smashed our crumbling side steps. Nightmare #2: trying to get the contractor to return phone calls with a price to finish the steps. Time to call another contractor.
The garden has been planted, and some of the plants are really taking off! I’m looking forward to that first ripe tomato off our plants.
My dad is in the hospital in NJ following emergency surgery to repair a hole in his stomach. He’s got peritonitis, is anemic, and has a ventilator tube. I wish I could be there, but as Nancy pointed out, it’s hard to travel that far to sit for only 20 minutes at a time in ICU, especially if he’s not awake or able to talk. So I sit at home and pray a lot.
And that, in a nutshell, summarizes the past two months. And so on and so on … Till next time…