Lyfting Me Up

The pandemic of 2020 has been part of our history for five years. Travel was an integral part of my life until then. My dad Bill died 25 years ago today. To say I was privileged is an understatement. He made sure that we saw the world. By the time I was 18, I had been to 24 states and 14 countries. I had planned, by the time I hit 75, to have visited all 50 states and all the continents. Then came Covid. Worse, the next year Covid caught me and nearly took me out. For the last three years I have battled long Covid, which has put a real crunch on my travel.

This past November I was consoling a friend about the state of our nation when I said, “We need to keep moving forward and not let this aberration stand in our way”. As I was driving home back to Arvada I thought, “I need to heed my own advice…we need to go to Hawaii in January”. With the help of the best travel agent ever, Jim D., we plotted out a one month trip to our Wyndham in Kauai.

Jim has watched me battle with my mobility following Covid. He said, “Let’s break up to the flight so you have some stretch time. Get a wheelchair at the gate, and pack your Rollator”. My male ego pushed back and he gave me that look as he said, “You won’t regret it”. That’s why he is the professional. He was right, the flights were seamless, and the assistance was both necessary and great.

Now for the Rollator—In June the occupational therapist who helped me after my most recent hospital stay, suggested that I get one—see the picture. When I saw the selection on Amazon, all I could think of was 50 of them parked in the dinning room of the Villa Pueblo, where my mom spent her last years. It took me about one outing to Zoe’s volleyball game to get over my ‘geezer shame’.

Hawaii is called paradise because it is. Kauai is the crown jewel of the islands and we are staying in what has to be the most beautiful part of the the island—the north shore. The Rollator got me on a catamaran tour of the Napali Coast, eight different 12-step meetings, walks to The Point to spy on whales, and dozens of other places. I always have a place to sit or the ability to stand and move—that’s no small gift when steps are at a premium.

I never noticed handicapped ramps or sidewalk cutouts until this shift in my mobility. Now I give thanks for those who fought hard for ADA requirements. In spite of contrary opinion, government can be a very good thing.

There are so many things I could share about this amazing “county” of Kauai. The warmth of the people is at the top. There is no sense that we have invaded, but rather, a greeting of Aloha is a daily experience. Perhaps a most unexpected treat is that the neighborhood we are living in has become a nesting place for Albatross. The more I get to know about these amazing birds, the more I find them a source of joy and beauty. They are absolutely not afraid of people. They plop down and build a nest right next to a driveway or Koi pond.

I can walk right up on my Rollator and see the most beautiful big eyes welcome me to the nest, which, for 60 days waits for the new baby to show up. This is hard to imagine but the parents fly 3000 miles each way to the North Pacific to feast on squid for the young birds. These birds have already figured out that Kauai is their future, as the rising oceans take away their traditional homes.

I have my Rollator, and Albatross have their 11 foot wingspan. They fly 6000 miles for dinner and I walk four blocks to the food trucks. The Rollator has given me a sense of freedom and independence for which I am soaring.

Onward and Upward,

Mark