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Wendy's Story
As my days in the travel business grow larger and ever more frantic, I sometimes ponder my motives for continuing. As I struggle against diminishing financial returns and increasing stress, I wonder if it is the gypsy in me, always packed and ready for a new adventure, or just tenacity that drives me. Then, on a particularly frenzied afternoon, Linda called to put it all into perspective. She sounded annoyed and frustrated. She wanted to take her daughter on a cruise along the Mexican Rivera Coast and she needed to leave almost immediately. She had a limited budget and her daughter had physical problems and limitations. I sensed an urgency in her voice, so I tried to clarify her daughter's situation, but met resistance. I noted that Wendy had limited vision, difficulty standing and walking and took medications that required refrigeration. Linda did share the fact that Wendy was in one of her good times and it was critical that she travel during what was an ever-decreasing window. I called Carnival for reservations on their ship, The Elation. The ship was fully booked for the dates and category Linda and Wendy needed, but the reservation agent offered July as an alternative. Checking with Linda, I could hear again in her voice frustration and now anxiety. She knew her request was late but this was so important to Wendy. She wanted so desperately to experience a cruise and visit Mexico. I am a mother. My memory book is filled with pages of shared travel memories. Although I had never met Linda or Wendy, I made this trip my cause. I called Carnival every day, hourly. Colorado Springs has a reservation center and eventually I turned to them for Mission Impossible and they did come through for us. On May 16,1999 Linda and Wendy sailed on the Elation. The rest of the story is best told in Linda's own words: Dear Frankle - Wendy and I had such a wonderfid cruise. We have memories of a week of laughing, eating, gambling, lying in the sun - just being together. Wendy made a scrapbook of our trip and talks of it all the time. If I have only done one thing right my
entire life, it was taking my daughter on this cruise. I thank you for helping
to make our dream trip come true. I know you worked hard to get us on an early
cruise. God Bless You -Barbara Late Friday evening, the day after this note arrived, I entered Memorial Hospital to visit the family. I had never met Wendy and don't know what I expected - a child diminished by years of struggle against disease and disability, Wendy was beautiful. She was asleep or comatose, but perfectly angelic. In her late teens or early twenties, her golden hair framed a lovely angelic face. On the floor by her bed, heavy shoes and torturous looking braces told more of her story. I sat in the bedside chair looking at the poster of the Elation taped on the wall. I alternately prayed, wrote a note, and wept. Again Linda's note to me tells the rest of the story: Dear Frankie - Thank you for the thoughtful visit - sorry I missed you. The elephant is darling and I will treasure it. Wendy died Sat. the 2nd at Hospice - quietly with Tom and I at her side. She was a very special young lady and the world is diminished since she left it - but we know she is in a better place, where she can walk and see and has no more pain. Thank you again - Barbara We'll be calling next year as Tom told Wendy he would go on a cruise with me! (Editor's note: Frankie Tutt's travel articles will be a regular feature on The Senior Information Network. If you wish, you can contact her at Charlie Brown's Goodtime Travel, Colorado Springs, CO (719) 635-8992 ext. 138.)
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By
Frankie Tutt