The Honor Flight Randy and I were privileged to be selected for took place a week ago today. Since that day I’ve been racking my brain to think of a word to describe how overwhelmingly emotional it was. It is with 100% certainty I tell you I am still not recovered from the deluge of emotion I experienced, not only from that day, but from the whole experience, starting the day we were called and told that Randy had been selected for the Flight. I finally settled on the word deluge, but even that still doesn’t even quite describe the sheer quantity of emotion I felt, and am still feeling, from that day.
For those who might have missed the story of how we were selected for the Honor Flight, you’ll find a full account at this blog post.
Randy and I were required to be at the airport in Punta Gorda, Florida, at 4 am that morning. That’s an ungodly hour for most seniors, and for those who are dealing with the ravages of cancer, it’s especially unsettling. I put us to bed at 9 pm. Randy, struggling with both insomnia and serious brain muddle, got up and dressed at least 4 times before midnight thinking we were going to be late. Sometimes there was less than a half hour between getting undressed and redressed again. He finally fell asleep around 12:15 am but I was now wide awake for the duration. I was glad I slept for a couple hours before he began his pop-ups.
Our Guardian, Keith, and his compassionate wife Carla, who are longtime friends, arrived to pick us up at about 3:10 am. I was grateful for Carla’s perkiness at that hour and her ability to and insistence on making memorable moments. She was the one who made sure we were completely ready, had everything we needed, and documented the start of the day with photos I would never have thought to take.
We were on Mission XXIV for the Southwest Florida Honor Flight Hub. Let me tell you, they’ve got the process down pat. Everyone knows exactly what they’re doing, including the airport staff. Everyone is completely committed to making the day amazing for the veterans. Everyone is patient and caring. They thought of and provided for every single need on the trip.
The flight to Washington, DC is short, just over 2 hours. We veterans were given a schedule for the day, but without times on it. In retrospect, that was a very good idea. We honorees were spared being obsessed about whether or not we were on schedule. Our first stop was at Arlington National Cemetery. It was raining lightly that morning and cold for us Florida residents. Keith and I agreed that because Randy’s stamina is so poor, he’d ride an honor chair (wheelchair) all day. Keith was amazing at taking care of Randy and I’m so grateful he was so attentive to Randy. It allowed me to enjoy the events of the day as a veteran without being overly concerned with Randy’s needs.
I lost track of the exact order of the memorials, but I think the Military Women’s Memorial was next. Pro tip: they have (we were told) the best bathrooms and gift shop of the day. I tried to buy a small trinket in the gift shop and one of the Honor Flight Board Members snuck in behind me to pay for it. They wouldn’t even let me buy my own souvenir!
I didn’t get to see much of the Memorial itself. The 12 women vets on the Flight were kept busy there almost every minute. There were photo sessions (my favorite picture of the entire day, above, was taken here) and an overwhelmingly emotional ceremony where we were presented with certificates in beautiful presentation folders honoring our service. A video of that presentation is posted on the Southwest Florida Honor Flight Facebook page. One of the four Flags of Honor recipients for Mission XXIV (a service member who died before they were able to take an Honor Flight) was a woman. Hers was a touching ceremony, too.
We visited the FDR Memorial which turned out to be my favorite. I didn’t even know FDR had a Memorial. The rain had stopped but it was still in the low 50s in DC. Randy was shaking so badly from the cold when we returned to the bus that I was glad I threw a fleece blanket into my backpack at the last minute after seeing that suggestion on a “what to pack for Honor Flight” google inquiry. He put my jacket and the blanket on and finally warmed up after 10 minutes back in the heated bus. He shook from the cold after each of the next few stops until the sun came out in late afternoon.
We also visited the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, World War II Memorial, and Korean War Memorial. We arrived late. The buses were delayed in traffic due to a motorcade for the King and Queen of England. All traffic stopped dead for more than 20 minutes. Still, we had plenty of time to spend at those solemn memorials.
All of the memorials mentioned in the paragraph above are in the National Mall area so there was a lot of walking. It really is a beautiful place. The Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument is being repaired. Someday I’m going to go back and really spend some time reflecting. It appeals to me on a visceral level. Keith did a great (tiring, I’m sure) job pushing Randy in his Honor Chair for what seemed like a couple of miles (it wasn’t).
Everywhere along the way; when we were greeted at both the Punta Gorda and DC airports, when we returned to the DC airport to reboard the plane, and at each Memorial, there were groups of people lining the routes to greet us and thank us for our military service. It struck me that undertaking an Honor Flight from Southwest Florida is far more than a local effort. The amount of folks who support the Mission in Washington DC is massive. It’s a humbling realization.
Considering how weak Randy is, and how muddled his brain is, I worried like a wife of 50 years does about how well Randy would do on this Flight. The Honor Flight staff pounds into you all day long to stay hydrated. They threaten veterans with an IV administered on the flight home by 1 of the 8 EMTs they bring along if you don’t. Randy and I discussed how important eating and drinking is to keep up his strength and stamina. He doesn’t do very well at home, but I have to say I was proud of him for making an effort to eat a bite or two every time they fed us, which was a lot. And he drank more water that day than I’ve seen him drink for a while. He did much better physically than I anticipated. I was thankful.
On the plane returning to Punta Gorda, each veteran was surprised with an envelope of mail from home. I knew about it (I wasn’t supposed to, but I watch YouTube!) but Randy didn’t. I wanted him to have the biggest mailbag on the flight, and it appears we (all of you mostly) may very well have accomplished that goal. Randy got 86 pieces of mail addressed to him personally, some from friends and family we haven’t heard from for years! Though I’ve inventoried and read each of them, I haven’t read all of them to him yet. We’re working our way through them as he isn’t reading anymore. The emotion is so overwhelming neither one of us can handle reading more than just a few at a time. For everyone who participated in making mail call incredibly special for us both, thank you.
Finally, the homecoming at the airport that evening was an event that deserves a post of its own. I’ll do that next week.
As I said at the beginning, Honor Flight was a deluge of emotion from which we may never dry out. I’m still bawling every day about something related to it. I imagine it will last for a few more weeks.
And for that, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
P.S. The cancer now seems to have migrated to the fluid and tissue in Randy’s brain. We are considering whether or not to proceed with Whole Brain Radiation. Please pray for him.
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