Thursday, September 11, 2008

Travelocity

One day my dad received two phone calls within two hours from two of his children. Richard and Julia had both totaled their cars in two different states. Ever since then if one of us calls crying, it makes him crazy. Once I called him from Julia's phone on April Fools' Day and pretended to be Julia and while feigning a distraught and troubled voice, I cried, "Dad?! I've been in an accident!" How mean is that? I quickly followed it with a loud and gleeful, "APRIL FOOLS!!!"

So this morning when I called him crying, I quickly told him the reason so he wouldn't have to worry that anyone was injured, dead, or missing. It was for a silly reason- I never actually paid for the flight I was supposed to board with my two daughters tomorrow afternoon. I found and selected the flight the night before we left for Idaho, and I thought I paid for it, but apparently I didn't. After searching my email for a confirmation, calling Travelocity, and verifying with my credit card company that no charges would be made, I'm convinced I made a really stupid mistake late that evening on the 15 of August by not clicking that last button. That last button is always hard for me to click. It's painful to click the button that's going to withdraw $400 from your account.

Well, after an hour on the phone with a call center worker from overseas who calls himself, "Gary", I gave up on Travelocity and tried Hotwire instead. It took "Gary" five minutes to locate the Kansas City airport on his list. When he was reading off one of the flight options, he told me the arrival time was "one three PM." I said, "you mean, 1:30 PM?" Him: "No, one three PM." Me: "Oh, you mean 1:03 PM." Him: "Yes ma'am, one three PM." Yikes. Instead of flying out tomorrow, we fly out on Sunday morning for only $50 more a ticket than we were planning on paying before. So I feel lucky.

Anyway, this day obviously got off to a weird start. And I've been trying to think of the bright side of being here a few more days. Maybe I can convince Bobby to come home from St. Louis for Friday night and Saturday. Maybe I can actually take the time to blog about our trip to Idaho/Utah. Maybe I can get some more pictures up on the walls and finish my quilt (which is SO close by the way- I love it!)

I stumbled across a blog today that had posted this inspiring video. Please take a few minutes to watch it if you can. I was so touched by the love and understanding this 13 year old girl has for her little brother David who has Downs syndrome.




I feel a little overwhelmed with all the attention that special needs kids/adults are getting with everything that's going on in politics and the media, with Obama's stand on abortion, and Palin's son, and that movie Tropic Thunder that came out. The low expectations that our society places on individuals with disabilities saddens me. One of the most important things I've learned about Franny through our experience is that I can expect a heck of a lot from her. She has surpassed my expectations enough in the recent years that I've learned to always set them higher. I remember her consultant Melinda saying once that whenever she starts with a new kid, whoever the kid is and no matter what their behaviors are or how nonverbal they may be at the time, she always assumes that child can be taught to speak and use words. If something comes up later that will stand in the way, like apraxia, or some other diagnosis in addition to autism, then that's fine, but she always starts out believing they can be taught. As a parent, I was so impressed and inspired by that. I think it's influenced the way I feel about Franny and what she is capable of.

16 comments:

Rebecca S said...

So I'm remembering your trip to Chicago with your sister and how you didn't get to leave for that when you expected either, and I'm thinking that you have pretty bad travel luck :) Hope you get there and have fun anyway.

Anne said...

I'm glad you have it worked out, that would be cause for crying. Have fun with your family. Love you.

Anne said...

I forgot to say that I loved that video, it is so true. I too have been thinking a lot about that lately.

Kelly said...

You are such a good mom, whereever in the country you might be, by choice or because you got stranded! Franny is lucky to have you!

Chrissy said...

Katherine, I was so touched by that video that I started crying. Part of my emotions may be due to hormones, but I was so touched by this sister's love and understanding. You are such a blessing to those around you. Franny's potential is endless, and she is so blessed to have you and Bobby as parents.

Jane said...

I love that video, thank you so much for sharing it! I love to hear stories of Franny and the amazing things she is doing. She is so darn cute, what a lucky mom you are and a lucky girl she is.

Jane said...

I love that video, thank you so much for sharing it! I love to hear stories of Franny and the amazing things she is doing. She is so darn cute, what a lucky mom you are and a lucky girl she is.

Sara said...

That reminds me of something I did - we showed up to our hotel when vacationing in Florida to find that I had actually booked the room on expedia for one month later. Oops! Luckily they had a room and all was well.

Obviously I've never met Franny, but she and Sophie sound like amazing kids.

Ashlie n Jonathan said...

You are inspiring.

Sara said...

david and i both laughed really hard at the "one three" story -- ha!!

i haven't watched the video clip yet but i will :)

have a fun trip!!

Cole Kimball Warner said...

That was beautiful sweetheart.

Natalie said...

I'm so glad you still get to go to California! Have fun and be safe--good luck flying with the girls!

hayley said...

I just had to put in a happy birthday. You are truly unique and I admire you in many ways. Your words are inspiring in ways I don't even understand. What a wonderful blessing you have in your life.

It's funny how you can feel you are completely invading someone's personal life through a blog, but I can't help wanting more:) Thanks for sharing.

Erin said...

Oh man, I'm sorry that happened to you. That's something I would do too. I'm glad you didn't have to pay too much more.
Benjamin and I watched that video and it was pretty neat. Thanks for sharing.
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Martha said...

Katherine - that was awesome!!! I have a brother with Down's and this was such a touching explanation and viewpoint. Thanks for sharing.

Ryan and Rikke said...

I apologize for blog stalking you, but I saw your comment on Ashley's blog (checking to see if I got the movie right). The sad thing is that I totally thought about not stealing your thunder...after I had published my comment and couldn't take it back. Sorry! Hope you had a good birthday. By the way, cute blog and your girls are adorable. Again, sorry for blog stalking.

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