Trevor is officially being booted from the hospital April 20th. Yes, as in this coming Wednesday. So for all of you Salt Lake City folks who have been meaning to come visit but haven't had the time... Get your butts over to room 2613! Sundays are not fun days here at the hospital, so please come visit him and convince him to get out of bed.
It is absolutely unreal to me that he's finally leaving. We've been here for the past 74 days. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do when I no longer feel obligated to go to the hospital during each and every tiny break in my busy schedule. Although I'm really happy for him (REALLY REALLY happy for him), I'm having a minor heart attack myself. It's going to be extremely hard to get my stuff done when my mind is back in Michigan, where my brother is recovering from all this nonsense...
Thinking about Trevor having to go to the airport and participate in society on a regular basis kind of makes my stomach hurt. He looks perfectly fine; he doesn't look like he wouldn't be able to answer a simple question. What's going to happen when the stewardess comes by and asks him what he wants to drink. What's going to happen when the person at the baggage claim asks to see his ID? Is he going to respond with something along the lines of "penis" or "siamese twins?" Because I really hope not. He can rarely communicate but nobody in the general public would ever know that.
And in reality, we don't know whether or not embarrassment is an emotion his brain allows him to have. I don't know anyone that can help them self from staring at someone passing by in a wheelchair, especially someone as young as Trevor. It's not a normal thing. Is he going to know that all these people are looking and feel ashamed?
The other day, my friend Megan and I were talking about a presentation that Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times journalist, recently gave about people with disabilities in Africa. In many third world countries, where there's no money to care for those with disabilities, they are treated as outcasts. Often times, handicapped people are kicked out of their villages, neglected, severely abused and left to die.
But here in the wonderful US of A, those with disabilities are given better opportunities-- healthcare benefits, movie discounts, etc.-- and thank God for that. Not to mention Disney World... People in wheelchairs get to cut to the front of the lines at the most fun place on Earth! I'm really trying to convince my parents that a Disney World trip is in Trevor's best interest this summer.
I completely agree with you guys going to Disney World! You are the strongest family I know, and I don't know what it is like, but if people do begin to stare, you know that you are the better person. And with Trevor's amazing sense of humor, Im sure he'll come up with some witty comment to make them feel like asses. People who stare don't understand. They don't know your families struggles and successes; you know how important life is and how we must make the most of every moment we get. People forget to live, you Rhoda's and Walker's are a fine example of what family is and what everyday should be; when's there's tears there will soon be laughter, and when there's heartache, there will always be love.
ReplyDeleteOh Kita, I just love ya!! However, I'm not sure the Rhoda/Walker strength even compares to the ball-busting Apostol strength. You and your entire family have gone through the most of extreme of extremes, a battle that took much longer than our battle with Trevor, and I have so much respect for you. You have a way of always making you smile and I am very grateful to have met you. Now when are you and Trevor going to get married so we can have the toughest family around?!
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