ANGEL FLIGHT
Not long after my husband conquered Hodgkins lymphoma, he learned that he had bladder cancer. The triumph over one cancer was overshadowed by a more ominous type. We began driving from Fredericksburg to Houston M.D. Anderson for his radiation treatment. To cheer ourselves up on the way we would sing "On the Road Again" and we also tried to find interesting places to eat both on the road and in Houston. At Anderson we learned of a service given by a group of unselfish pilots, called Angel Flight. They give flights to people from all over the U.S. who need medical treatment. They fly their own planes, pay for their own gas and are very congenial. We would go to the little airport in Fredericksburg where we would meet our pilot for the day and from there would fly over the beautiful state of Texas as if we were on a private air tour.
The pilots would drop us off at Hobby Airport in Houston and we would catch a taxi from there to the hospital. The taxi driver also owned the company and he never charged us for the ride to the hospital. In fact, he was so kind that a few times when I needed to go to the grocery store in Houston, he would take me, wait for me and return me to the hospital, no charge. There were angels everywhere during this trying time. I feel as if I have written about this before, but in case I haven't it's something I wish to share so I'll keep on writing.
You see, the hospital let me stay in the room with my husband the whole time he was receiving treatment. They brought in a cot for me to sleep on and since I didn't have a computer, the nurses let me use theirs at their desk after hours. So, at about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning when they didn't need it, they would let me communicate with my family. The nurses were not the only kind people I met during this period. One time at the grocery store I decided that I wanted to give the nurses some flowers to thank them for their kindness so I went to the floral section of HEB. I found a small arrangement which I wanted but it cost more than I could afford. The one I could afford had a couple of dead looking flowers in it. I had been talking to the lady who ran that department and when I told her what they were for and explained the situation, she quietly removed the tag from the cheaper arrangement and put it on the good one. I don't think she got in trouble for that gesture.
Speaking of "situation", I haven't explained to my readers that this was a very difficult time for us. We had to close our restaurant after learning about his cancer and we had no other means of income except for a small social security check which didn't stretch very far. Fortunately for us, we became recipients of a gift from a donor to the hospital and were given a stipend on which to live. That saved us financially and enabled us to manage somehow.
I am not ashamed to divulge those difficult times to my readers (as I said before, if there are any), because we were blessed to get through a lot. The problem was that my husband didn't get through the bladder cancer so I went back to Fredericksburg without him. Fortunately I had our children with me when he passed away and they gave me strength after losing my partner of 42 years.
I started this epistle to tell about Angel Flight but as usual I got carried away with the story. I hope other victims of illnesses are as blessed as we were with the kindness of strangers.
The pilots would drop us off at Hobby Airport in Houston and we would catch a taxi from there to the hospital. The taxi driver also owned the company and he never charged us for the ride to the hospital. In fact, he was so kind that a few times when I needed to go to the grocery store in Houston, he would take me, wait for me and return me to the hospital, no charge. There were angels everywhere during this trying time. I feel as if I have written about this before, but in case I haven't it's something I wish to share so I'll keep on writing.
You see, the hospital let me stay in the room with my husband the whole time he was receiving treatment. They brought in a cot for me to sleep on and since I didn't have a computer, the nurses let me use theirs at their desk after hours. So, at about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning when they didn't need it, they would let me communicate with my family. The nurses were not the only kind people I met during this period. One time at the grocery store I decided that I wanted to give the nurses some flowers to thank them for their kindness so I went to the floral section of HEB. I found a small arrangement which I wanted but it cost more than I could afford. The one I could afford had a couple of dead looking flowers in it. I had been talking to the lady who ran that department and when I told her what they were for and explained the situation, she quietly removed the tag from the cheaper arrangement and put it on the good one. I don't think she got in trouble for that gesture.
Speaking of "situation", I haven't explained to my readers that this was a very difficult time for us. We had to close our restaurant after learning about his cancer and we had no other means of income except for a small social security check which didn't stretch very far. Fortunately for us, we became recipients of a gift from a donor to the hospital and were given a stipend on which to live. That saved us financially and enabled us to manage somehow.
I am not ashamed to divulge those difficult times to my readers (as I said before, if there are any), because we were blessed to get through a lot. The problem was that my husband didn't get through the bladder cancer so I went back to Fredericksburg without him. Fortunately I had our children with me when he passed away and they gave me strength after losing my partner of 42 years.
I started this epistle to tell about Angel Flight but as usual I got carried away with the story. I hope other victims of illnesses are as blessed as we were with the kindness of strangers.
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