The Journey...


Part II:

I had just retrieved my Father from his care home in Maryland. He went from not recognizing me and being in a catatonic state, to grabbing both my hands tightly with his, as we departed in the rental car, causing me to cry as his eyes filled with tears. No words were needed but I told him he was safe and I was taking him home. We drove off into the blackness of that morning and I knew I had to get straight to Dulles airport and get him on the plane back to Hawai'i before his new wife found out he had been taken out of the facility. 

The social worker, a Beautiful Angel, named Allison, had blocked his removal when a clearly fraudulent Power-of-Attorney had been produced by his new wife, and drafted by an unscrupulous attorney in the D.C. area.  If they had been able to remove my Father at that time, I never would have seen him again. I was still worried what other lengths they may have gone to in their efforts to invalidate my Power-of-Attorney, and I knew her new law firm was ready to file in court a Guardianship action any day now. If they filed in D.C., I wouldn't have had the resources to effectively fight for my Father. If I failed to get him onto the airplane and back home to Hawai'i, I wouldn't have had the resources to stay in D.C. to fight for him either. I was under so much pressure that morning.

We drove in the dark and on unfamiliar roads. I watched the GPS intently for every upcoming turn, following it religiously as time was of the essence. I had driven the half-hour journey many times that weekend practicing for the real trip but I still didn't know all the routes and it was so confusing. To make matters worse, my GPS seemed faulty. I didn't use GPS in Hawai'i because the islands seemed so small and familiar. In D.C., Virginia and Maryland, there seemed to be so many roads. People drove fast, and I always felt pressure to keep up with the Indy 500 as cars zoomed past me, some seemingly annoyed going around me, while I kept one eye on the GPS.

Sometimes the GPS would show the purple line I was supposed to follow going off to the right for an off-ramp, and seemingly at the last minute, as I was heading towards the ramp, the purple line would snap back to the main road like a magnet pulled it, and I would have to quickly merge to get back on the main road. One time, it was too late for me to get back over because of speeding cars, and I ended up going in the wrong direction. I actually traveled five miles that morning headed the wrong way until I could find a place to turn around and get back on to my course, another five miles back.

My Father didn't want to let go of my hands, so I kept my right hand on the shifter and had to do everything with my left hand. When we started out on the main highway that black morning, it wasn't long before I saw bright blue lights along the side of the road up ahead. My heart started pounding as I thought it was a police roadblock. I could only imagine the line of questioning for me about what I was doing so far from home. Who knows if my Father would blurt out something inappropriate or worse, something that could get me searched, or even arrested. I still didn't know his state of mind having not seen him for so long. 

To my relief, the blue lights turned out to be little blue lights gathered in the middle meridian of the highway. I don't know what they signified but from a distance, every time I saw them, my heart beat fast, until I passed them and saw they were those same road lights.

While we were driving, I was thinking about how I was going to get my Father through TSA at the airport when I only have his old military I.D. that was decades old, and barely looked like him anymore. That was my biggest obstacle in my mind but I would have to cross that bridge later.  Suddenly, a red alert light was flashing on the GPS monitor. It showed a flashing red car that looked broken down. My heart sunk and then started racing. How could my rental car be breaking down? I coudn't believe it. What were the chances. I didn't know if the car was overheating or what else could be wrong as the red flashing light kept blinking and even made a beeping noise. 

My mind was racing as to the scenario of being stuck on the side of the road, a Virginia State Trooper stopping by, waiting for a tow truck, and missing our flight and our one chance to get home that morning to Hawai'i. There was so much to go wrong. I started praying hard, out loud, as my Father just quietly looked at me.

It wasn't long before I noticed flashing lights in the distance, and as I glanced down to the GPS, I noticed the red flashing car was moving along the road on the GPS in sync with the broken down car we were approaching. As we passed the vehicle and the tow-truck, the red flashing car on my GPS moved down and disappeared.  I couldn't believe it but was so relieved. The flashing car wasn't my car warning light, but showing me that there was a broken down vehicle ahead of us on the GPS. I don't know how that works but I was so relieved that I could have easily cried from the stress.

We kept going in the darkness, as I watched the GPS intently and the road signs to make sure I didn't take a wrong off-ramp again. The GPS was wiggly again, but without it, I would be totally lost. At one point, I saw a large dead deer on the side of the road. Just laying there as we passed it, lit up by the headlights of another car in the other lane. A magnificent and beautiful large male with a full rack on his head. It was somewhat eerie, tragic and sad. I couldn't help but search my na'au for the meaning or sign for us. Life is Precious and can be short as well. It actually gave me some courage to move forward and do what I needed to do that morning, even though I was nervous, apprehensive and afraid deep inside. My Father was once a magnificent robust Man who I looked up to for everything. Now he was just a withering shadow of his former self. I had to assume the role of the Father, and he was under my total care now. Once a magnificent Buck. Sadly, that would be no more. It was still hard for me to grasp as I thought about the packages of diapers the nurses gave me.

I turned on the radio to get some music into the car as it was too quiet and I was thinking too much. Pushing button after button the only strong station that came on was a Rock music station. Each song brought back so many memories of college as they were songs from that era. A time when I was so much more confident and sure of myself, and a time when I took so many risks, that could have ended tragically, or even in death. I knew I was saved for a reason, a reason that I dedicate my Life to now. Each song was its own message to me that morning. I was very grateful as they kept my Spirits up.

As I was lost in the music, I happened to notice peripherally a vehicle next to us on my Father's side, just hanging back slightly. After what seemed like a long time, I glanced over and back. To my horror, I saw that it was a State Trooper. My heart began racing. I immediately glanced down at the glow of my dashboard to see my speed. Thank God I was going the speed limit. After clocking us for awhile, he accelerated and passed us, turning on his lights and quickly exiting the approaching off-ramp. My heart was pounding when I saw his lights come on even though it was way in front of us and I knew they weren't for me. If I had been speeding, we would have been pulled over. I wasn't even paying attention to my speed as I was lost in thought with the music playing. 

We made it eventually back to my hotel. I made sure my Father was strapped into his seat securely and locked the doors while I ran into the hotel to grab my suitcase and quickly check out. I had to keep one eye on the parking lot and my Father at the same time. I made it back to the car, and we took off to return the car to the rental car facility. 

As I pulled up, the rental agent asked how everything was. I said awesome and thanked him. He printed out the receipt and handed it to me. He then asked me where I was headed. I said Dulles. He then said that we could proceed over to the area where the shuttle would pick us up and transport us. I got out of the car and said, "I don't think my Father will be able to get up the stairs and into the shuttle. He is so stiff, I could hardly get him into the car with the help of several nurses." The agent looked at me then over through the windshield at my Father and then said, "I think we can help him get up and into the van."

"Is it possible that someone could drive us to Dulles in our rental car so I just have to get him out onto the airport curb and a wheelchair?" I replied.

The agent looked like he was thinking for a moment, as more cars came pouring in and agents were running around. I knew it seemed like an inconvenience and a long shot as well. He told me they we really busy and short-handed but to hold on as he walked off into the distance.

My heart sunk. We waited there for about five minutes when a young man came jogging up and asked me if I needed to get to Dulles. I said "Yes please!"

He said, "Give me the keys and I will drive you there."

I said, "Thank you so much. You don't know how much I appreciate this."

He was one of the workers who washes and cleans the vehicles. I shared with him that I used to do that very same job while in college for a small rental car business. I was so relieved to finally get to the airport, but still worried so much because the true test of the entire two-day whirlwind mission was about to be encountered. TSA.

When we got to the curb, he ran to get a wheelchair for my Father and helped to get him into the chair and get me my bags. I reached deep into my wallet and grabbed as many bills as I could part with at the moment and stuffed it into this hand. "That's not necessary" he protested. "Its too much!" I told him "You have no idea how much your kindness means to me. In Hawai'i, we call this Aloha. You have much Aloha brother."

We quickly hugged and he ran to get back into the car. I turned around to see a woman holding onto my Father's wheelchair, ready to help transport my Father into the airport check-in lines. Her name was Begum. She was a single mother of two Beautiful daughters who was from Bangladesh and who had a very hard life. She would be my next Angel on this Journey. She too possessed Aloha. I was so grateful for her kindness, and the many Angels who carried my Father and I on this unforgettable Journey. It was Begum, who would help me face TSA...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kihapu...

Blood Moon...