Past Travels with Old Friends 2

Last time I told a true story about my old friend, Ed Haskell. He certainly was a delightful man. Today I'd like to tell you a true story about another road trip I took with 2 developmentally disabled friends of mine. I've decided to change "Robert's" name to protect his privacy, but rest of the story is very true.

I made plans with other family members to attend a three day missionary conference at church located in Worcester, Mass. That church is affiliated with my church in Maine. The conference started on a Friday evening and ended after the Sunday morning worship service. It was early fall and the weather was beautiful and it was only about a 4 hour drive one way. I was going to drive down alone and meet my family members there. I knew my two developmentally disbled friends would love to go so I invited them. They were both very excited to take a trip out of state.

My developmentally disabled friend, Robert, told me he had never stayed in a hotel before. At the time he was 32 years old. Robert would often come to stay with me for weekends and sometimes for a week at a time. You see he lived a few towns away and was cared for by a one on one staff in a home rented by the agency that oversaw his care. When the staff needed a break they would send Robert to me. Robert often spent the holidays with my family and me as he did not have a family. When I called Robert's supervisor to see if it was okay for him to go to Worcester with me she was thrilled with the idea. I told Robert's supervisor what to pack and how long we would be gone. We agreed on a time she would drop him off at my house.

My other friend, Vicki, is a woman with Downs Syndrome. At the time of our trip she was 47 years old. She had suffered a stroke a few years ago which gave her permanent left sided weakness and she walked with a hemi-cane. Vicki lives with me, I am her caregiver. Vicki loves to travel and was very excited to go on this little weekend getaway.

So, on Saturday morning we piled into the car and I drove to Worcester. We arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon. We had to make many stops on the way for bathroom breaks and eating breaks and moving around breaks so it actually took a little longer to get there than if I had driven alone. I had reserved a suite so that all three of us could stay in the same quarters. Neither Robert nor Vicki are capable of staying alone.

Once we got registered and settled into our digs for the weekend Robert and Vicki wanted to look around the hotel. Robert also wanted to go swimming in the indoor swimming pool. So he got into his swimsuit and we started out for the pool while touring the hotel. Vicki was in a wheelchair as she can only walk short distances with her hemi-cane. The pool was at the other end of the hotel on the first floor and we were on the fourth or fifth floor. The elevator was fun, the hotel was very nicely decorated, and we noted the hotel had a restaurant which was very close to the very cool pool area.

Finally we arrived at the pool. There were lots of people swimming. Robert was very excited and before I knew it he jumped in the water and splashed a group of young ladies. We soon discovered they were teenagers celebrating a 16th birthday party. Needless to say, they were not pleased with Robert. Robert is, perhaps, 9 years old in his mind, but he looks his age physically. Often people cannot tell by looking at Robert that he is developmentally disabled. I quickly got control of the situation and had a quiet but stern talk with Robert about pool etiquette. Despite this I still got a few dirty looks from strangers who did not seem to understand the situation. Robert swam a short while longer under my constant supervision. Finally, we went back to the room to get ready for supper.

We met the rest of my family who were attending the conference at a local restaurant for dinner. It went well except that Robert tried to order everything on the menu. His eyes are waaay bigger than his belly! After supper we attended an evening service at the church before heading back to the hotel. Both Vicki and Robert had a great time but they were tired from their big day and quickly got ready for bed and fell asleep in their prospective, but really cool hotel beds.

Next morning we all got up and dressed and packed up our things and ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant. The hotel restaurant offered a breakfast buffet and Robert was like a kid in a candy shop! However, I kept things under control and eventually we finished and headed for the morning service at church. My beautiful niece, Annie joined us at the church service. Robert was immediately smitten with Annie. He sat beside her during the service.

When the service was over my family gathered in the church parking lot to discuss where to go to eat lunch before heading home. We finally made a decision and went to get into our vehicles to head to the restaurant. Robert made it very clear that he wanted to ride with Annie. We all said at the same time that we weren't surprised by Robert's request. Annie loves people and was a good sport. Robert rode with Annie to the restaurant. It was the highlight of his trip. And, by looking at Annie's picture I'm sure you can see why.

After lunch we headed home. We made it home fairly quickly as compared to the trip down. Both Vicki and Robert slept almost all the way home.

Past travels with old friends

Recently, I've been thinking about my new Air Companions venture and I started remembering several disabled people I have accompanied on trips. One of my fondest memories is of Ed Haskell. I took care of Ed in my home for a little over 2 years until he passed away. He was a brother of Henry Haskell. Henry was the founder of the Blueberry Cove Camp in Tenants Harbor, ME. Ed was about 80 years old when he came to live with me. Before that he had been living on his own in New York City. Unfortunately, he had a stroke and was no longer able to live alone. Henry wanted Ed to be near him as Ed was not married and had no children. And, that's how Ed came to live with me.


Ed was a very interesting man. He was a scientist. He literally wrote text books! (Can you imagine?) He also wrote one novel named "Lance". He could speak 7 languages fluently. He grew up in a missionary family. His father was American and his mother was Swiss and they raised their 7 (I think) children in Bulgaria as missionaries. Ed was a world traveler and a very politically minded person. So were all his brother and sisters. I had the privilege of meeting several of them. Unfortunately, when Ed had his stroke he was unable to talk. He could still understand what people said (in all 7 languages) and he could sing, but he could not talk. Nevertheless, each week Henry would come to visit and they would have "libations", as Henry called them, and talk to each other in Bulgarian. I thought it was very cool.


Ed loved the outdoors and nature. He walked long distances every day when he lived at my home until he became too confused to find his way. Ed also loved to swim. In the summer I would take him to my parents home in East Union and he would go for a long leisurely swim in their pool. Daily I would read to Ed as he had lost his ability to read (although he denied this and I went along with it). Everything I read to Ed had to do with animals and nature.


I was in my early 30s when Ed lived with us and my children were school age. My whole family has always been close. I'm talking about parents, siblings, etc. Several of us decided to go on a camping trip to New Hampshire. Ed wanted to go so we took him. Henry certainly didn't care as he was quite an outdoors man himself. My husband, my 3 kids and I slept in a tent. Ed slept in a bed I made up for him in the bed of the little pickup truck we owned. Other family members slept in their tents around the sight. My parents brought along their camper. Dad slept in the camper and Mom slept in a tent with my daughter, Rachael; at first. Vinny slept in a tent with my sister Stacey and her husband and their kids. By the way, Ed was very fond of Stacey's son, Victor. Victor was just a toddler at the time and Ed just took a shining to him. You can see Victor standing beside Ed at the edge of the picture I posted. Victor is now 22 years old.


Everything was going well...for a while. After we all fell asleep it commenced to rain buckets, which it always does when I go camping. (This is the reason I no longer like camping :) My mother had a "star gazer" feature in her tent. The star gazer feature means that there is a hole manufactured into the top of the tent so you can look up at the stars at night. Great if it isn't raining. One can cover this hole with a piece of canvas made especially for that. But, my mother did not do that. She and Rachael woke up almost drowning in water because, as I said, it was raining buckets and I mean buckets! Needless to say Rachael had to sleep with us and my mother went into the camper with my father. Things settled down....for a while.


My son, Vinny, walked and talked in his sleep and had night terrors. We don't know why, but he had it bad. Shortly after we all fell asleep again Vinny must of had a nightmare and he started screaming at the top of his lungs that someone was trying to kill him and he wanted me to save him. When he did this sort of thing he was very convincing although he was fast asleep and never remember any of these incidents. Anyway, until we could finally wake him up he continued to scream in terror about being killed. Needless to say, after he was awakened he came to my tent to sleep with us. It was crowded.


Somehow Ed slept comfortably in the pickup and never woke up through all of the goings on. However, when we got up in the morning we noted that all the other people camping in the sites around us had left in the middle of the night. At the time I was thankful no one called the police.


Oh, I almost forgot. Ed knew the Wright brothers; the guys who started all this air travel stuff.