Spring is coming! Spring is coming! I’m sure that is always a welcome time for most people. Some of us are fortunate to escape the winter for warmer climates. We purchased our home in Naples, Florida 33 years ago. Where does the time go?
Having been a private pilot for 44 years, I now have to resort to commercial flight. And that is no fun anymore. But it would be especially difficult if you were not only a senior, but a handicapped person.
One of my friends from Naperville has a sister who lives in Florida. She is blind, and confined to a wheel chair. However, she flies up for visits – by herself. The cab driver picks her up and takes her to the airport and goes inside to get an attendant to come to the cab with a wheel chair. The attendant takes her luggage, puts her in the wheel chair and whisks her through all of the rigmarole of checking her bag, inspection, and wheels her to her gate. She tips the attendant, usually $5. They help her board the plane, and then they have a wheel chair for her waiting upon her arrival. Isn’t that a story about a brave lady!
I fondly remember how our beloved ex/mayor, George Pradel, would fly to Vegas with Pat for a “romantic honeymoon” vacation – his words. He said the hotels there really try to accommodate handicapped people. They’d stay in a handicapped equipped room. And the hotel would arrange for Pat to have an electric scooter. She could scoot everywhere in the hotel and outside too. Also, they have special cabs to transport those with the scooters. George says they enter with the scooter from the back of the cab and the scooter drives in up a ramp. He and Pat would have a wonderful time.
So seniors should not hesitate to travel. It’s better than sitting around and doing nothing.
And speaking of that, we still could use some help with our Senior Task Force. Can you answer a phone? Can you attend meetings for us? Can you write or help with scheduling?
And since we receive no money from the City, we need fund raising.
Giggle Time: A couple were dining in a nice restaurant. A lady observed them from a table nearby and saw the wife starting to slip down in her seat. Eventually she ended up under the table and the man didn’t seem to notice. She went over to him and said, “Sir, I think your wife just slid under the table!” And the man said, “No, that is my wife coming in the door.”
