Two Mondays ago my mom flew into San Antonio to watch over the girls while Jesse and I went on a little trip to DC.
We had been invited by Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation to meet with, and brief, members of congress about service dogs.
For those of you who don't know, there are no benefits or guidelines in place in the VA to assist service members with acquiring a service animal. When I was going through my recovery everyone I asked either had no clue or just told me that I had to wait until after my recovery before I could look into it. I couldn't even start to gather info through them.
Fortunately my mobility trainer raises puppies for a guide dog company located in California and she taught me what I needed to learn and what the companies look at when they are considering pairing a person with a dog.
It was my first real help and I was excited!I have been told that there is a link on the VA website somewhere that has information on the different companies but nobody told me about that.
I can also go and register Xxon as a "prosthetic" device and the VA will cover the very basic vet bills for him. If any of you have worked with the VA you know that is process is not fast.
Let's get back to the story shall we?
Jesse and I took off from San Antonio Monday afternoon and landed in Dallas for our layover about fifty minutes later. We were supposed to have about an hour before boarding our next flight.
After leaving the plane and finding the restrooms we located the TV screen that shows all the flight info and learned that our flight had been cancelled. Awesome.
We went over to a gate agent and she said there was a flight leaving at 9:00pm that she could probably get us on so we didn't need to worry.
We get our tickets and see that we have been separated and both of us are in the middle seat. I was in 9B and Jesse was in 10B. We learned that flights to DC had been getting cancelled all afternoon and that it was completely full.
Normally we get put in bulk head seats so the dog can fit but this time they wouldn't help us and said we would just have to ask people on the plane to move around on our own.
We were the first ones on and as soon as I tried to get Xxon between the seats I knew it was going to be a long flight. He could barely fit between them even with his harness off. He paused looking at where he was supposed to fit and I am sure he was thinking that we couldn't be serious.
I ended up having to pull him in and squish him into place. We sat in 9A and 9B planning to ask whoever had the window seat to trade.
She was there soon and when Jesse asked her if she would trade so the dog could fit she said,
:No, I need the window."
My first thought was that is was dark and she was full of it. But what could we do? We climbed back out and she got in. Before I had Xxon back in place she had her pillow out and was laying against the side of the plane with her eyes shut…too bad for Princess there but Xxon is still going to take your foot room ha ha.
the lady in 9C was very nice and had Jesse sit there while she found another seat. The flight attendants moved her over to 9E and everything was ok. We had no leg room and poor Xxon was totally smashed but we had to choice.
A few minutes later some guy walked up and told Jesse that he was supposed to be in 9C. ARE YOU SERIOUS!
The lady who was originally in that seat piped up and said it was hers and that he must be mistaken. We asked him to just sit in 10B which he did and we finally got settled.
We ended up sitting on the runway for thirty minutes or so and finally took off around 9:30.
The flight two DC was long, uncomfortable, but uneventful. We landed after midnight and got to bag claim a little before 1:00am.
After we grabbed our bags we headed outside to find a cab. As we headed out the door I heard a voice over the PA system say that is was now 1:00am. I was just happy to be there.
That lasted until I found out how long the line was for cabs. We stood in line for forty minutes…not exaggerating at all. I checked the time. I couldn't believe it!
They have a fellow directing people to cabs based on destination and when we got our turn our driver went over to him and started getting upset about the dog that was about to get in the car. All I heard was the cab director person explain that the cab driver knew the law and that there was nothing that could be done.
It is just amazing how many cab drivers don't want to take us when we have Xxon is tow. I know someone who had a driver speed away when he learned that there was a dog involved.
Luckily we didn't have this problem and around 2:30 finally pulled into the Hotel george to get some rest.
We were greeted by some of the happiest people I had come across all day. It takes a special person to be so joyful at such a horrible time of day.
They checked us in and handed us a little bag with a rubber ball and a bunch of treats for Xxon. He was stoked!
We headed to our room and saw that they had treats for all of us, bowls for the dog, a bed for him, and a welcome note saying that they were honored to have us stay there. The staff at the Hotel George turned a crappy day into an awesome one.
Fidelco was gracious enough to give us Tuesday off to enjoy DC. We were very grateful and used it to recover!
We woke up late…around 9:00 or so. Those of you with kids understand what a treat this was.
We started to plan out the day and talk about what we wanted to go and see. It was about this time that Jesse looked outside and saw that it was pouring rain. We were quite disappointed. This was our first real chance to get out and enjoy the area but the rain totally ruined that plan.
We still had a great day though. We went to a nice restaurant and enjoyed some good food and just hung out and enjoyed each other. It is weird to not have children around we almost had nothing to talk about. We learned that we still have things in common! Which is always good to know!
We found a great Irish Pub and enjoyed stuffing ourselves.
That night we met up with the CEO, one of the board members, and the Director of Communications from Fidelco to finalize the plan for the next day.
Wednesday started at 9:30 with us briefing a large group of staffers and other assorted political figures. I am avoiding names on purpose since I can't remember them all but when we get the pictures from Fidelco they will be posted for your enjoyment.
After that we spent the rest of the day hopping from building to building briefing all sorts of people on service animals and let them meet Xxon.
The one name I do remember was John Kerry. Back when he was in the race for President I was too busy with my own life and really didn't pay attention to what was happening in DC but I have to say that he seemed like a really nice guy.
Now this goes against my inherent distrust for politicians but we really enjoyed our time there.
My distrust stems from my experiences with them while recovering at Walter Reed where they visited constantly and the only vibe I got from them was that they were there so they could tell everyone else they visited a wounded service member. It wasn't personal at all. It was nice to see these people in their own exhibit and learn that they aren't completely bad.
Thursday was more or less a repeat of Wednesday. We met a lot of people and did a lot of talking. A handful of these politicians, when learning that theVA offers no assistance, said they something needed to be done about it.
I am certainly not holding my breath that something will change, especially given the political environment right now but it was still good to hear. Who knows, maybe with some more visits we can start to make something happen!
After the fun in DC we took the train up to Connecticut to visit Fidelco for a few days. This story is it's own entirely and because of that, and the fact that I am tired of typing right now, I will post the story later.
Thank you all for keeping up on us and all of our adventures. While my mind is on the topic I will let you all know what is going on with the house.
The foundation was poured last week and as of right now the framework is starting to go up!! Operation Finally Home has a Facebook page as well as Twitter so if you want to find some pictures now you can go and look them up.
Dan Vargas has ben extremely diligent on keeping us updated through the social media So if you haven't liked them or followed Dan on Twitter I recommend it. Their organization is truly amazing and I am sure you will be surprised so see how much they are doing right now for wounded service members and widows of our fallen troops.
I want to send our thanks to Fidelco and everyone involved with them for the work they do and for letting us be a part of it. Our thanks also go to Operation Finally Home for their generosity and commitment to our service members. It is an honor to call you all friends.
God bless and enjoy the beautiful fall weather!
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