Apologies in advance for the length (Laurie!), but I want to remember - and share - every nuance of this incredible chapter of my life. And if you're reading this with Tapatalk, you'll probably have to tell it to show "web view" to see it all.Off To See Our Kendra
That Wonderful Kendra of OursEpisode I
Wherein our heroines concoct a conspiracy, craft a crazy card, and crash a convalescence.Well, I'm still trying to absorb the enormity of what happened last weekend. The initial purpose was to surprise Kendra and meet a few other people from Susan's, and it blossomed into something so wonderful and unique in my experience that I'll remember it the rest of my life. The term
watershed moment comes to mind.
After Kendra sprung her amazing surprise visit on me at my party on New Year's Eve, I felt the need for a little payback. I knew about all the serious things she had planned for this year, and since only one of them would be in the US, it was the default choice for a time to surprise her. I started looking into travel to Scottsdale.
I mentioned it to my best friend Cassie, and asked if she'd be interested in going along. She was involved with the conspiracy to get Kendra here to my party, and hung out with us while Kendra visited. She was all for accompanying me, so I lined up a flight, hotel, and rentawreck, with arrival set for a few days after Kendra's GCS surgery with Dr. Ley on January 18th. Somewhere along the way, when I was passing PM notes under the desk to Tia Anne, I told her about my plan, and she decided that there was no way she was going to miss this, and started to make her own travel plans.
I started thinking about a congratulations/birthday card for Kendra, and thought about all the people here who love her so much. Why not get some of them to sign the card? But how the heck can I do that when they're literally all over the world? I came up with a short list of people who I knew, who also knew Kendra. And I waited until Kendra was under anesthesia on January 18th to contact them via PM, so she couldn't hear us whispering. I told them what I was up to, and asked for short greetings and quotes that I could put in the card from them. One by one messages of love and best wishes came in over the next few days. The evening before we left, I assigned a different font and color to each, printed them out, and did some old-school cutting-and-pasting into the card.
The conspiracy was complete, and plans were in place. Other than staying up late, fretting over what to pack, I was ready to go. It was time to execute. We got up very very early on January 21st to get to the airport for a 7:20am flight.
And this is where the one of the most amazing adventures of my life really began.
This would be my first trip as Stephanie with my new ID, on my own (that is, without Sue to run interference for me), and via public transportation - with strangers all around, and serious security to get through. It would be Cassie's first flight in about 12 years, which meant it was also her first as Cassie. I can't speak for her, but I was a nervous wreck when Sue dropped us off at the airport. We checked our baggage with some help from an agent (not a secret one, thank goodness), which forced the issue on using my "voice" for the first time. Apparently it worked. No hassle or strange looks so far. Off we went to security.
We had luckily drawn TSA Pre-Check passes, so the lines were short, we didn't have to take off shoes, belts, etc. and the scanner was just a metal detector, not the "naked scanners" we were both apprehensive about. I whizzed right on through. Cassie got a bling bing from the scanner, but it was a quick check, I assume with a wand, and we were on our way to the gate, with a quick slide into Starbucks for breakfast. So far everyone had been completely professional and there was no weirdness at all. I started to think maybe I could do this thing. Again I had to use my voice to talk to the gate agent when I couldn't find my boarding pass on my phone, and again, no issues. Onto the plane - I got the window seat - nyah nyah Cassie - and off for the 1500 nautical mile slog to PHX. I tracked us occasionally with the GPS navigation software on my tablet.
Landing in PHX, I did some back seat driving (15 rows back) to help the pilot land - Cassie noticed me pulling back on the flight stick (c'mon c'mon, you're in ground effect, flare, flare, hold it off...) and with my help he made a smooth landing. Phew. Good thing I was there. We were nice and early.
So early, in fact, that our gate was still occupied by some rude dude in a big airplane. By the time they finally towed away the guy in our parking place, we were only on time anyway.
Off the plane and off to the baggage carousel. Time to see how Tia's doing.
Tia Anne was flying in from Colorado, and there was a possibility that her plane would be grounded by a blizzard. We were relieved to hear that it had gotten out, though it was late because it took so long for deicing. It worked out well for our schedule, though. While we were standing at the carousel waiting for our luggage to come around on the gee-tar, I spied a tall lady in a pink top and patterned skirt on the other side typing into her phone. When mine went "ping" I knew who I was looking at, and was very impressed! Wow, we get to hang out with this classy lady? She's gonna make us all look good! We met and hugged, and waited for our luggage. And waited. And the carousel stopped. All done. Uh oh. Time to put the voice to the test again. While I was talking to an agent at the help desk (with no strangeness again), Cassie found our bags on a different carousel. Whew. Time to troop off to U-Push-It to pick up the rentacar.
It's been a long time since I've rented a car, and the company whose cars are all in pain (Hurts) uses video kiosks now. Based on the image on the screen, the guy at the other end seemed to be in Yosemite or something, though we all knew he was in a cube in Peoria. I signed my life away, using the correct name and ID of course, and we went looking for the car. After having to talk to someone yet again, we got to choose a mid-size hybrid. Time to see what Phoenix, Tempe, and Scottsdale were all about. Tia was pretty familiar with town, having had her GCS with the same doc that Kendra was using, and directed us to lunch at a pretty cool Jimmy-Buffett-Margaritaville-styled restaurant called Rehab Burger Therapy, appropriately named since it was right across the street from the Greeenbaum Surgical Center, where Kendra innocently and unknowingly awaited our arrival.
After an Arizona lunch that couldn't be beat, we girded our loins and prepared to do battle with the entry doors and nurse's station at the hospital.
Since it was a Sunday, everything was locked. As we buzzed for the nurse, Cassie tried the RFID key from her job, and click, we were in! After taking the heffalator to the second floor, my nurse Cassie asked whether I had the congrats/birthday card with me. Good thing she keeps me on a short leash. Back down to the car and back up with the card. Now we're ready. Turn right from the elevator and into the hallway and...
There's a cute dark haired lady walking (not shuffling,
walking) down the hall toward us. We all stopped. You could hear crickets. The lady's jaw hit the ground. And stayed there. I got a good look at her tongue piercing, and held out my arms.
Look who's here! Either Tia or Cassie said,
"Breathe!" We all started consuming oxygen again, and incoherency ensued.
We finally went to Kendra's room. I was anxious for Kendra to open her card and see all the greetings inside, but she just held it in her lap and shook her head in amazement. I was about ready to explode. She finally opened it up... and all that love came busting out. She lost it, as I did, too.
Kendra's dear friend Denise was waiting in the room when we got there. She was pretty cool, and the strings that bind her to Kendra were obvious for all to see. While she was the only ciswoman in the room, she joined in our open and uninhibited conversation about where we all were, where we were going, and how we felt about it. Dena arrived, then Mariah and Jamie.
While learning more about everyone, I realized that out of all the exceptional people in that room that day I feel that I have accomplished the least and have the furthest to go. I'm in awe of all of them, and am deeply honored that they so eagerly accept me into their company.
Finally, everyone's springs ran down and we needed to let Kendra get some rest. We left for the evening with a tentative plan to meet up again on Tuesday before our flight out. Cassie and I dropped Tia off at her hotel and headed for the room we were splitting. Another interaction at the front desk with my voice and new ID, and into the room, where we crashed so hard they heard the thud back in Florida.
We both ended up awake again around midnight with rumbling bellies and curiosity about the night life in Phoendalempe. Which isn't much on a Sunday night. We ended up at 414 Pizza in Tempe, which features good pizza and bad karaoke. Rolled back to the hotel and crashed again some time around 2am.
And so endeth the first day. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Steph and Cassie's Excellent Adventure.
- Stephanie
