Saturday, December 14, 2019

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. Mattie was one and half years old. It was Mattie's second trip to California, but his first Christmas in Los Angeles. It was a big deal for my family and Mattie even got his own little tree. He had a great time and spent a lot of time outside in the backyard. 


Quote of the day: The people of Gander were just phenomenal. I can’t say enough nice things about them. They brought smoking patches to the airplane. They brought diapers of every size. They brought baby formula. They filled 2,000 prescriptions in the middle of the night. When we got off, they had tables and tables set up. The people of Gander had cooked all night long. They made all kinds of sandwiches. They gave us a bag. It was kind of like Halloween. You went from table to table and just picked up what you want. They had fruit and brownies and pies and cakes — they had made everything. There were 6,565 passengers and crew that showed up within a three-hour period. They were fed three hot meals a day, every day we were there. ~ American Airlines pilot Beverley Bass 

Peter sent me this photo today of the physical therapy room at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. It is extraordinary! Bright, open, amazing views, and access to incredible staff and equipment. I can see why this facility is always ranked as the best in Boston. 

This is a photo of Peter's mom with her physical therapist, Katie. Having the right therapist can make all the difference in the world. Apparently these two are a good match!

Katie got Barbara going up and down steps today!

Barbara at the top waving to Peter!

This is what Barbara's back looks like now. Keep in mind when she was brought to the emergency room on December 1, the following was identified:

1. A Third Degree Heart Block, requiring a pacemaker (though a defibrillator was used twice on her heart  - it delivers a dose of electric current to the heart)
2. Brain Bleed
3. 3 inch laceration of her head
4. 4 broken ribs
5. Fractured vertebrae (t4-8)

In all reality Barbara is lucky to be alive, as one of her vertebrae came 1cm away from severing her spinal chord. 

Today I had the opportunity to see the matinee performance of Come From Away at the Kennedy Center. I can't say this is a musical that you are going to come away with singing the score. But this is a musical that highlights the human spirit of compassion, hope, and kindness even as we face our darkest hour. 

This was the set to the musical! It never changed and yet the acting was so good, that through their words and actions, they transported us to different scenes.... on a airplane, in a shelter, at a bar, etc. 

This is the first musical I have seen without an intermission. I can see why they don't provide one. It would break up the nature of the story and complexity of emotions being explored. 

Needless to say, I saw no one moving or talking throughout the performance. In fact, when they sung their last song, the entire audience jumped to their feet and gave them a standing ovation. Once the actors left the stage, the on-stage musicians continued playing and the audience was memorized and clapping along. NO ONE was running for the doors. A real Washington, DC first. In a town where people seem to think they are a priority and their schedule is tantamount. But here is what truly caught my attention. Once the performance was over, every one was KIND about exiting the theater. People waited, let other people in front of them, and there was a sheer energy of human kindness in the air. Honestly if one took a poll of moods leaving this performance, I am quite sure it would noteworthy. 

Come from Away is a musical that depicts how the town of Gander in New Foundland was transformed by September 11, 2001, and how the "plane people" acclimated to their hosts and the tragedy of 9/11. In total, 255 planes were diverted to several towns across Canada on September 11, 2001, with 38 of those diverted to Gander. Gander airport is one of Canada's biggest airports (despite being a town of just under 10,000 people) and when it first opened in 1938, it was the largest airport in the world. Ironically, Gander was a thriving military post during World War II, and for years was used as a refueling point for transatlantic aircrafts unable to make it across the ocean. Until 9/11, the very high-powered jumbo jets that landed there that day virtually put Gander out of business, since their tanks were big enough to make the trip without stopping.


This is what Gander looked like on September 12, 2001. 
Because there was a security threat, once the planes had landed, the people on them had to stay put for a further day on the runway. In the days before social media and smart phones, they had no way of knowing what was going on. Once they were allowed off, they could only take their hand luggage with them. There's a song in the musical called "28 Hours" which references how long people were stuck in the planes.

There weren't just people on those planes – there were animals in the plane holds too. The character of Bonnie in the show is based on the real life of head of Gander area SPCA. She managed to get into the cargo holds of the planes to search for any animals. She found 11 dogs, nine cats and a pair of rare Bonobo apes and set up a makeshift vets in one of the empty aircraft hangars.

This is a photo of "Gander." The chimp's mother, Unga, spent six days at Gander during 9-11 and now her offspring bears the town's namesake.

Perfect strangers were invited into people’s homes – where meals, beds, and new clothes awaited them. Striking school bus drivers put down their picket signs and volunteered to transport people from their planes. Schools were converted into makeshift shelters. Restaurants and bakeries donated food, while pharmacies provided everything from diapers to medication to feminine products. Group cookouts were planned. Phone and computer centers were set up. Walmart cashiers invited perfect strangers home for warm showers.

One group of terminally ill children flying (9/11/01)  
from London to Disney World in Florida for their birthdays were treated to the next best thing, when a police officer Oswald Fudge’s daughter and her teenage friends created a pop-up Orlando at St. Paul’s Intermediate School — complete with local entertainment and sweet treats. A bakery made a cake for 350 people, and we had balloons and stuffed animals. One of the fathers said, "My daughter’s wish was to go to Disney World, but even if we don’t get there, it’s okay. We’ve had such a good time here, she’s not sad."

This is what the Gander airport looked like on September 16, 2001. Planes lining up to take off. I honestly can't imagine how the "plane people" (which is how the people of Gander referred to those aboard the 9/11 planes who landed in their country) felt being grounded in a foreign land when terrorist attacks were happening in the USA. The musical does an incredible job in less than two hours covering every emotion under the sun from fear, loss, anger, grief, isolation, anxiety, hope, connecting, trust, and kindness. For those five days, Gander became like the United Nations, as it wasn't only hosting Americans, but people from all off the world who were on planes grounded in Gander. 

Despite the tragedy, good things blossomed out of the time spent in Canada. British Nick and American Diane were on the same plane, but only met when they were off their plane and in Gander. After spending time together in the town, the two got along famously and eventually married – heading back to Newfoundland for their honeymoon. This is a photo of the couple on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Many of the "plane people" journey back to Gander in honor of 9/11 each year, as the connections they made with the islanders during those 5 days will never be forgotten. In fact, the "plane people," on the day they departed left thank you notes and money in the airport suggestion box. We were told that when all foreign currency was exchanged and accounted for, it equated to a $60,000 gift.  

Video narrated by Tom Brokaw: 9/11: Operation Yellow Ribbon