Posts Tagged ‘Travel’

Reflections

January 28, 2010

So I’ve been back 4 days now from LA, and I still can’t get my body back in tune with East coast time. Or maybe the exhaustion hasn’t completely left my body. I already feel like I am 3 weeks behind in everything I need to do, with no time to catch up on sleep or work…… 2010 just starts and time is flying by!!

Everyday since I’ve been back, there is something new I find in my daily activities to be thankful for. I feel like that is one of the best ways I can pay respects to Drew for the beautiful gift he shared with me – his life. It’s crazy because today it hit me like a ton of bricks. A few “incidents” happened today that really tested my nerves and my patience. What pushed me over the edge with them was priorities, realizations. These “incidents” are so meaningless, and stupid compared to the battles Drew faces on a daily basis. I was reading the latest People magazine and the cover was Heidi Montag and all of her plastic surgery. In the article she talked about how it really tested her marriage because Spencer had to pull down her pants for her to go to the bathroom. REALLY??? I thought I had one up because with my MS, my mom has had to carry me to the bathroom, so did my ex-husband. But that is truly nothing compared to what Drew has endured.

So, as I struggle to get back “normal” life here in Atlanta (my heart still feels like it went thru the Powerman…) here is what I know: I am a lucky person to know Drew Bates. I am humbled for being around him. For all of you out there that are just “friends” with him on facebook, I challenge you to really get to know him. See what he is all about, and how you can be a part of what will one day be his incredible empire. Make sure the ones you love know that you love them. Life can change so dramatically, so quickly. Hug them, kiss them, don’t go to bed mad at them. Let the small stuff go. Have no regets. Live your life to the absolute fullest it can be. Be thankful for every breathe you take, because you never know when it will be your last.

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Leaving LA

January 24, 2010

It breaks my heart seeing Drew leave LA. I feel like I’m dragging a kid out of the toy store. Drew and I shared a personal moment with him talking on the video about what he was disappointed about. Make no mistake, there was NO disappointment on the activities of the week. His disappointment lies with _______ well, I’ll let you wait and see that one once the documentary is done. I guarantee you, it will bring a tear to your eye and touch a place in your soul. For someone who has such a tough exterior, there is a soft side in there.

As I’m writing this I’m listening to my iPod, Needtobreathe. And the song, “The Heat” comes on, just as magically as the Josh Grobin song came on when I was flying out here…..
Let the drumbeats wash you over
Let the songs come and take you under
Push the life that brought you here, away from you tonight
There’s a place where the pain can’t touch ya
And there’s a fire where the heat won’t burn ya
It’s in the sound of your voice tonight singing in one song

You get a headache and you can take an advil. You break a bone, and the doc may give you a stronger pain pill. That doesn’t even begin to touch the pain Drew lives in. I look over at the goofball and he is dancing in his seat. He can always make me laugh. Change is inevitable, Drew is proof that you can survive it. Families are forever. No matter what you do, no matter what happens. Family is there. Family is love.

I am so thankful to add John and Joe to my family. This week is something I will never forget. And no words I write will ever do this justice. One day Drew, we will find that place where the pain can’t touch you.

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The Height of Excellence

January 23, 2010

As we continue on this movie journey, in line with all drama’s we end this trip with an invitation to The Screen Actor’s Guild Awards Show. Words cannot begin to express what that experience was like. The second I put on my dress, I felt like a queen getting ready to go to her coronation. And Drew was absolutely handsome in his tux! It is the most sensational experience to walk the red carpet. If only these crazy fans in the stands were screaming my name…… I have to work on my impromptu smile. It’s harder than it looks people! You are concentrating on not stepping on your dress or falling, then at a nano-seconds notice you have to pose, smile, click – photo taken. You really have to be on your game walking the red carpet! Word to newbies out there who will eventually attend one of these shows – until you are famous enough to have someone carry your train down the red carpet, don’t get a dress with a long train…. Just saying….

Melissa and I got to be back stage with Joe. Joe designed the set for the awards show, and it was absolutely breathtaking!! Just beautiful. One thing I that has become crystal clear to me out here this week, I do not like to be in front of the camera. I prefer all the behind the scenes stuff. (Guess that’s a good thing Drew loves the camera so much!!) It was incredible being amongst all of these celebrities and incredible actors. To see Mo’nique win for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role was very surreal. She was genuinely shocked she won. When she came off stage, she just had this deer in the headlights look, like she couldn’t believe what just happened. Seeing how completely giddy the cast of Glee was with their win was so much fun! I felt like I was celebrating right there with them.

What made this night so special for me personally was Betty White receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. Golden Girls is my all time favorite tv show EVER. I have every season on DVD and still watch them over and over and over again. She is what made me star struck. Just to be in her presence….. Amazing. Excellence.

One great aspect of this week is that there truly are still some good guys left in Hollywood. People who don’t conform to the superficial mask the industry wants you to put on, people who don’t buy into the hype that they are larger than life. But…. you still have a few bad apples out there too.

This is truly an experience I will never forget. (Although I would like to forget my little tumble down the stairs as I was rushing to get back stage to greet Kevin Bacon as he came off stage. Luckily, he didn’t see the tumble. Sadly, I didn’t get to see him…..Next time!)

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Party Like It’s 1959!!

January 22, 2010

WOW!! John and Joe threw Drew the most amazing party last night! He got the chance to feel like a king (as if we weren’t already getting the royal treatment all week!) and visit with many of his old friends and colleagues from his days back in LA before the accident. And true to form from the rest of the week, John and Joe went big! We had a fabulous bar, fabulous food, fabulous hosts and a fabulous time!!

I have not seen that smile leave Drew’s face all week. Out here in LA, he is really in his element. LA is most definitely not made for everyone, but it is made for Drew. I really enjoyed getting a chance to meet his friends, hear old Drew stories and see how genuinely happy everyone is for him. I often talk about how I need to get my battery re-charged, and I think this party did that for Drew. In the depths of the woods of Blythewood, SC, one can often forget or lose sight of the audience that is out in the world cheering you on.

Like so many times this week, I am yet again reminded how very precious our lives are. How quickly life can change with every breathe that you take. How fast the road God sends you down can turn into a different direction. All the while we are strapped in holding on for the ride and praying we get there safely. How one minute you are driving your truck back to LA and next minute you are lying on a frozen road for 16 hours grasping on to your life, so that you can see another breathe.

Be thankful for the amenities and functionalities you have in your life. Be grateful for the people who love and support you. Tell the people you love that you love them, and don’t hold grudges. For it can all be gone and over with so quickly.

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Drew Stops Traffic!!

January 17, 2010

So, we’ve landed and true to form, Mr. Dramatic could not wait to make his mark again in LA – so he stops traffic!! Ha! Living with MS, I am aware of many amenities that people take for granted. Traveling with Drew brings that to a whole new level. Even makes me feel like I need to go to confession and say 50 Hail Mary’s for how I have lived my life so selfishly. And I’m not even Catholic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, Delta leaves Drew’s wheelchair on the tarmac and its raining. This chair is his legs. Melissa and I were feverishly trying to get it dried off before we moved him into it. No one likes to sit in a wet chair! That would be like Delta dumping a big pitcher of water in your lap before you were allowed to get off the plane. Thanks Delta!! Then we got to wait 2 hours for them to finally get his shower chair off the plane. Really????? Why it didn’t come off with the rest of the luggage is beyond us. Many of you that follow this know that patience is not one of my virtues. Instead of Drew getting frustrated or angry, which he had every right to, he is smoozing and making jokes with the Delta guys. Lesson learned…. not only from a personal level, but a business one too. I know a lot of you travel every week with your job, I used to myself. Take a que from Drew!!

So… this brings me to him stopping traffic. We have a handicap accessible van as our rental car. The rental company sent over a van to pick us up. Well, the lift that comes down for Drew get in the bus can’t go down on the curb, it has to lay down on the road. So with a devilish grin on his face, Drew drives off the curb and into on-coming traffic where all the hotel and rental buses are coming to pick up people. “I’ll just wait right here”!! Ha!! I could not stop laughing at him. Buses were driving by looking at us like we were crazy. Nope, not crazy, just need you to think about how someone in a wheelchair travels. It’s definitely more entertaining than the average bear! But again, a lesson to be learned here – no matter what life throws in your face: HAVE NO FEAR! Be brave enough to drive out into oncoming traffic if that’s what it takes to get you where you need to go!

 We arrive at the hotel to the most fantastic gift basket in our room. It looked like one of the gift baskets the celebrities used to get at the awards shows. Time to kick back, have a drink, enjoy some cheese and crackers and just soak up that we are in LA!!!! That’s right – WE ARE IN LA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watchout California!

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The Flight to LA

January 17, 2010

First, can I just tell you how silly excited I am about this trip to LA. I’m going with Drew and his sister Melissa for a little vacation and to get some business done – get Redneck Ninja’s pitched!! Drew called me a little ball of energy when I met them at the bar, I think part of that was the entire pot of coffee I drank. Ha!

I’m reading this article on the flight about Anderson Cooper. In it he says, “You can’t predict how you’re going to respond when someone starts shooting or when suddenly your rights are taken away.” It immediately takes me back to my trip to Pakistan. When the very freedoms our soldiers are fighting for I lost the second I landed on foreign soil. The fear that invades you just by stepping outside to stretch your legs and walk down the street – will I get shot? kidnapped? As my mind was taking a dreadful walk down memory lane, Josh Grobin’s song “You Raise Me Up” comes on my iPod (yes, I know….a little girlish, but he has a great voice!) and I look over at Drew peacefully sleeping. It hits me that we also don’t know how we will react in the face of adversity. When you run into that brick wall called reality that you can’t move from the neck down. All of a sudden I feel like I’m in some Hollywood drama – listening to this song and tearing up over how surreal this moment is. I am going on the trip of a lifetime, getting this opportunity of a lifetime because of Drew. A man who can’t raise his own legs because of quadriplegia has raised up my hopes and spirits for the future. And while I have my Flip video camera to document things, it is not possible to capture this moment. “You raise me up to more than I can be.”

As I’m trying to soak all this in and hold it together so people don’t think I’m crazy, the rest of first class is worried about the score of the Minnesota – Dallas game. This may be one of the few times in my life I honestly don’t care about football. (besides, my Colts won yesterday…..)

Now I’m brought back to my own personal reality as I start to sneeze watching the flight attendant bring me another drink. Where is my Zyrtec??? I guess no matter how hard we fight it, we end up like our own mothers…. allergic to alcohol!!

Time to enjoy my next drink, find a good show on the tv to watch and we’ll be in LA soon!!

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