Home, at last!!

We arrived safely at Tulsa International Airport about 11:30 this morning. I told Eddie that astronauts returning from space could not have been happier than I was when our plane touched down.

We had quite a morning though, before we began our final flight home. We stayed at the nice Chicago Sheraton last night (wonderful king size bed, tons of pillows and fluffy comforters) though it was mostly wasted. We didn't get to bed until after ten, and Eddie didn't sleep much. He woke me at 1:30 this morning and wanted to sit up for a while. I didn't find out until later, on the plane, that he stayed up the rest of the night watching TV, couldn't sleep! I slept off and on, but was up plenty early. The plane was scheduled to leave at 9:05.

I went to the front dest at 6:45 (keep that time in mind now....) and requested the shuttle, with wheel chair lift, be available at 7:30. We'd checked our bags on through to Tulsa so we wouldn't have to handle them all again, and got our morning boarding passes before we left the airport Monday night so we could move through the airport pretty quickly. We got our few things all packed up and I rolled him to the lobby at 7:25, thinking this is going to work perfectly and we might have time to grab a little something for breakfast at the airport. I inquired at the front desk again about the shuttle and was met with a blank look...seems they somehow (in the past 40 minutes) misplaced my request for the "special" shuttle, and the driver had just pulled out for the airport. They radioed, and he told them he would get it for us when he returned from that trip. So we waited, and waited.
The driver didn't arrive until almost 8am, and then chatted for several minutes in the lobby with another (regular) guest before finally disappearing (to get the keys?), and shortly the shuttle pulled in. Now I was getting a little anxious, but we only had to make it through security and to our gate by about 8:30, so I was making myself stay calm.
We arrived at the airport about 8:15. I was ripping off shoes and earrings, Eddie's jacket and shoes, unveiling the laptop, getting boarding passes and IDs... a great flurry of activity, then reversing the process, of course. Off we go at a brisk pace to gate K15 (remember that number now....) We found the (huge, long) corridor for K gates, and moved a little quicker. Poor Eddie, I had piled some of the carry-on stuff onto his lap, so he was holding those and just plain holding on.
Finally, K15. I hurried up to the counter, apologizing for running late and requesting an onboard wheelchair. Well guess what? K15 was loading up for Rio, Spain, Central America... I don't remember THEIR destination, but it was not in this country, and certainly not Tulsa, Oklahoma. What??? I showed her the boarding passes, clearly marked with gate K15. Nope, sorry, Tulsa was leaving from H11b! Holy Cow. That means back to the hub (think of it like a bicycle wheel... hub, then spokes radiating out), then finding the corridor (huge, long, yet again) for H gates. I was really sweating then (literally and physically).
Off we go again. (I may have lied earlier when I said I'm always up for an adventure). Thank God the H corridor was not way on the other side of the airport. I just kept thinking that the next direct flight from Chicago was not until 4:15pm...and I wanted to go home. I almost got a little emotional at that point, but sucked it up.
I never broke out into a full run (mainly because I was too tired by then..and it was too crowded) but we made pretty good time. We came flying up to the counter (H11b), yes it was the Tulsa gate and, of course, they still had to radio for the aisle wheelchair (I debated asking for two..one for me), and they were beginning to board. I didn't care at that point...we were going to make it. And on this flight, thank goodness, we were seated in the front row (bulkhead) seats. This time I let the two guys with the wheelchair handle Eddie. They had to ask one (First Class, no less) passenger to move out of his seat for a few minutes in order to get Eddie lifted in, but otherwise it was done pretty swiftly and not too undignified. After that it was smooth sailing.
We were met at the Tulsa plane by the on board wheel chair and transfer was made for the last time. The fellow who helped there, then wheeled Eddie through the airport, to the baggage carousel, even lifted the luggage to the curb for me ... nice tip for him. One phone call to airport parking and their special shuttle was there quickly.
Again, I can't say enough nice things about American Parking at Tulsa International. They told me they'd only gotten the new shuttle bus, with wheel chair lift, about two months ago so most of the drivers are still training. We were more than happy to assist in their training...they are very cautious and considerate.
They unloaded us at the vehicle (nice tip) and I told them I could take it from there... mostly so I could catch my breath and assess how I was going to load everything up. Eddie and I were both hungry so we stopped to get BBQ (we are back in Oklahoma, right?) and carry it home.
I unloaded the luggage and got Eddie's walker out (tons of plastic and tape off) so he can be all indepedent again.

Home again finally. It doesn't appear Eddie has suffered any ill affects from the procedures. He's taking Ibuprophen and Tylenol a couple of times a day. We'll just wait and see now.

Me? I arrived home still standing upright and with a sense of humor, so my goal was accomplished.

Karen and Russ phoned that Miz Izzy was spanking clean, toenails clipped and ready to come home. Izzy rode with me to the bank, and the post office, behaving herself. When we got home she woofed down some food, a pig ear treat, tried to drink from every available toilet on the premises, sniffed all the new scents (including Eddie) and has settled in pretty well, not being resentful at all...it appears she liked her country vacation.

Thanks to all, for the prayers and well wishes!