On Frustration

We spent Thanksgiving with family near Boston, and while we were there, Natali, my wife, started feeling ill. She and I spent Thanksgiving Day at an urgent care clinic and then the emergency room while the kids spent the day with their grandparents and some other family. The next day Natali was starting to feel better after getting IV fluids and medication, and all we knew from the doctors was that her body was fighting some sort of viral infection. It soon became apparent that the viral infection she was fighting was chicken pox!!

We came to the realization that we wouldn’t be able to make our flight due to the contagious nature of Natali’s illness, and we cancelled our tickets to Orlando on Spirit Airlines, and instead extended our rental car and drove south, with the hope that Natali would be well enough to take our flight from Florida home to California. Looking at the typical time course for chicken pox, it seemed to be a reasonable plan, but the next several days of travel were rough, with me doing most of the driving, taking care of the kids, and taking care of Natali – getting chicken pox as an adult is no joke! I don’t recommend it! Thankfully all of the kids were vaccinated and I had chicken pox when I was five. Natali on the other hand had somehow avoided chickenpox through her childhood, adulthood and through all of her pregnancies.

So, we survived, and spent several days recuperating in Orlando and relaxing while the kids made good use of the heated pool at the house we were quarantining in. At the end of the week, we made our way to the airport, with Natali no longer contagious and on the path to healing and recovery – which takes time. We had vouchers for flights on Spirit Airlines and on another flight we had to cancel as well, so we used that money towards flights for Christmas to see family in Atlanta and this time would hopefully actually get to see the friends we had planned to visit in Orlando!

Well, right before our Christmas trip, Natali had a sore throat and got tested, only to find out she had strep! She got on antibiotics and we were able to make it to Orlando and also Atlanta to see family. When we got settled in, the rest of us came down with various symptoms, and except for our oldest son, we all tested positive for strep and had to get on antibiotics the day after Christmas. Thankfully we all recovered quickly, and ended up being able to see our extended family in Atlanta and also our friends in Orlando.

Following that whole experience, our return trip was on Spirit, and while our plane was delayed and it was the middle of the night, fortunately all our bags arrived with us. Unfortunately, our carseats didn’t make it on to the plane… so we had to change our plans and get carseats at the airport with a rental car, and then drove to see Natali’s family in LA. The carseats were supposed to meet us in Sacramento which was on our way home, but when we arrived there, and without any heads up from the team who told us the carseats had arrived and were ready for us to pickup… there was no one from Spirit at the airport.

So I spoke with other airlines, asking if I could buy carseats, or if there was anything they could do for us. Several airlines indicated that yes, they had carseats available, but no, I could not use them because I had not flown on their airline, and there was nothing they could do for me. So I went to the rental car desk and checked in with Avis, which is the car rental company we had just returned a car to, along with the carseats, but the representative at the desk didn’t have keys to access that part of the facility, and he didn’t have any carseats available. We were stranded at the airport without any carseats… and no sign of finding any…

Thankfully there was another rental car company I spoke with that actually did have carseats available! And just like before, we would have to rent a car to be able to use them. So I rented a car, and because there was no way to return that car in Redding, we parked it in the airport parking lot, and drove home that night with rented carseats in our own vehicle.

After that ordeal in the middle of the night, we got some rest, and then I drove back to Sacramento to return the carseats to the car and return the car to the rental car company. Thankfully, this time a Spirit representative was able to retrieve our carseats. Unfortunately, the carseats were missing most of their cupholders…

Now I’m working on a reimbursement claim to Spirit Airlines and trying to explain this whole situation… and while my patience for all of this runs thin, I’m being reminded that today at least we have our health as a family, and while I don’t like it, the process of becoming who we’re supposed to be requires persevering through the trouble and hardship, and enduring suffering and pain. I find myself asking if I can just have the outcome, without the work, maybe take an easier path… because if an easier path was there, I would definitely take it! And while I do wonder if there isn’t a better way, I’m finding more and more that value is in the journey, not so much about the destination, even if that can be unsatisfying at times.