Katharina Buczek
This 37-year-old woman’s grandmother is 82-years-old and struggles with severe rheumatoid arthritis. So, her grandma requires a walker, rollator, and a wheelchair just to get around.
“My grandma is also extremely hard of hearing. Lastly, she is very stubborn, and, in my opinion, not 100% there cognitively anymore,” she said.
Yet, her grandma insisted on flying to Alabama to spend Thanksgiving with her last living sibling, her brother, this year. And when it came to coordinating her grandma’s travel accommodations, all of the responsibilities fell in her lap.
She was in charge of buying her grandma’s plane tickets and making sure her grandma arrived at the airport on time– even though she had to leave her home at 3:00 a.m. to pick up her grandma and drive to the airport.
Nonetheless, she did it, but it was not a smooth experience. First, when they got to the airport, her grandma realized that her cell phone had been left behind. But her grandma still refused to hop on a later flight, meaning that they couldn’t go back and grab the device.
Then, her grandma tried to argue with her, claiming that the walker could be brought on the flight– even though she knew that the airline would gate-check the item.
Finally, her grandma just seemed extremely confused and overwhelmed as soon as she arrived to bring her grandma to the airport.
“And I honestly did not feel good about leaving my grandma or sending her on this flight,” she admitted.
So, she tried to talk to her 60-year-old father about the whole experience, revealing that she really did not want to ever bring her grandma to the airport again. She also claimed that it was simply because she didn’t think her grandma should be flying alone anymore.
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