Autumn is rapidly drawing nearer and the nights are thankfully getting a lot cooler The weather here is very conducive to sleeping at least 7 hours per night which is good for restoring our bodies and souls. My almost daily walks are still possible
I have just returned from a two week family visit attending my eldest son, Darrel's wedding to Catherine in Secunda. The second weekend of my stay I treated my family; 2 sons, with their wives and my 2 grandchildren to a weekend in my favorite mountains, The Natal Drakensberg staying in a 6 bedded mountain chalet
A week before my flight one night, it came to me to write a letter addressed to the chief purser explaining that although I get special assistance in getting to the aircraft I rather need help in opening my food containers, removing lids, buttering the bread rolls and basically anything that requires the full use of two hands. I handed in this letter at the check-in counter.
When I arrived at the aircraft I was met by the chief purser who greeted me by name and said that I had been upgraded to Premium Economy and a flight attendants introduced herself and showed me to my seat. Once seated I was brought a class of orange juice and asked it I wanted a cushion to rest my legs on as I was sitting in the front row just next to the galley (kitchen). A little later I was brought a little warm flannel to wipe my face and hands. I felt like a king!
Once we were airborne a flight attendant asked me which choice of meal I would like and if I would like salad dressing on my salad. My dinner then arrived with all lids removed, my bread roll buttered and cheese put onto the biscuits, desert opened all on crockery and with metal cutlery! Fantastic! Again I felt like a king!
Although I have flown Premium Economy several times before this flight was the best I have ever experienced
I was very grateful to my God and to the flight crew who were extremely compassionate and helpful throughout the next 11 hours. On landing I did not even have to wait until all the passengers had disembarked as a wheel chair was already waiting at the door.
Thanks also to Virgin Atlantic who have proved physically challenged people can be made to feel like any other fully able passenger and not only be helped to their seats
I hope that my experience will be repeated on my further flights?
In terms of my health, thanks be to God I continue to make slow but steady progress following my paralysis after my stroke. Many years ago while on a hike in the Natal Drakensberg our party was caught in a blizzard which resulted in mild frostbite to my fingers. In Dec 2014 while on my mobility scooter my right hand fingers became extremely cold and a few week later blood blisters appeared which slowly turned into scabs and once these fell off new skin tissue appeared making my finger tips extremely sensitive to water. Fortunately I had, from a previous occurrence some latex finger gloves and so wore these whilst showering.The old skin would then slowly peel back similar to sun burnt skin. This process has repeated itself several times and eventually turned septic. Only recently I have been prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatories so with God's healing powers and human drugs my fingers will soon be healed. It has been challenging doing things with scabs on my finger tips!
My faith continues to grow each day as am showered with blessings and as my slow healing progresses steadily hardly noticing my own progress but only when I compared myself to what I was only a year ago
my home and garden
