It's been eight years since my last post. I'm not sure if anyone still reads this blog, but I wanted to record something that happened today, so I figured I'd create an entry.
So quick update. Alicia is now 13. Sometimes I really marvel at how fast time seems to be flying by. I often think back to our eary days in the NICU and am amazed at how far we've come. Alicia is continuing to grow and mature, albeit maybe not as fast as I or Linda would like. But from the very beginning, one thing we've learned with Alicia is that she has her own timing for things. There is no use trying to force or rush anything as, we can't change how fast she grows physical, or learns cognitively, or matures emotionally, we can only accompany her and support her and do our best to guide her.
So onto what happened today.
Today is Wednesday. On Wednesdays Alicia has therapy in the morning and in the afternoon. Over the past year, we've been trying to train her to be more independent. As such, we've worked out a deal with our father-in-law. He would accompany her to the therapy sessions. But rather than have him come all the way out to our house to pick her up and then come all the way back to drop her off, we've been training her to take the bus on her own. For the most part things go off without a hitch. I'm constantly pleasantly surprised by how she is able to keep track of bus routes and bus stops, and where to get on and off. I'll be honest, knowing that medically speaking she has CP, and observing that in terms of academics she has trouble with comprehension and retention, I'm always amazed at how she can remember very specific things like dates, schedules, and bus routes. It's like for academics, her brain has a hard time processing. Like a computer with shotty WiFi. But then for other things she's incredibly intelligent and her brain is like a supercomputer.
OK so back to what happened today. We recently moved back into our apartment after 8 months of renovation. It's been a week of unpacking, organizing and cleaning. Today, Linda had to go back to the rental that we stayed at to clean it up and prep it to return back to our landlord. As such, I was in charge of getting Alicia to the bus stop so she could head to therapy and meet her grandpa. Well, as I don't usually take the bus, I am clueless as to which bus goes where. Knowing that Alicia is usually very clean on those things, I rely on her. So I get her to the bus stop, and there's a bus there the 902, that I think goes in the general direction of the therapist. I double check with Alicia if that bus goes to the clinic, and she says, yes. So I put Alicia on the bus and step away to call my father-in-law to let him know that Alicia is coming.
When I call him to tell him she's on her way. He tells me not to worry, he's already at the clinic waiting for her. To which I respond, wait, no, I think she thinks you're waiting for her at the bus stop. So he's like, OK I'll go and find her. I hang up with him, and call Linda to confirm whether Alicia is supposed to meet grandpa at the clinic or the bus stop. She says, the bus stop. So I'm like oh, then I better call him back and let him know. The reason I'm going into the details of all these calls is to let you know how much time has passed between Alicia riding off on the bus, and what happens next.
So once I get the confirmation from Linda, I call my father-in-law back and tell him not to go to the bus stop, Alicia is going to meet him at the clinic. He says, no worries, he's already at the bus stop waiting. I said, OK, great and reiterate that I put her on the 902 and she should be arriving soon. He clarifies and says, "Red 2?" I said, no, 902. And that's when my father-in-law went into a panic. He said, the 902? The 902 doesn't go to the clinic! You can imagine my anxiety when I hear that. I just sent my daughter onto a bus going to who knows where. And she has no phone, so I have no way of contacting her.
I quickly tell my father-in-law not to worry, and I'll get on my scooter and chase after the bus if I have to. So I run back home which is like a 5 minute walk. Five minutes is not a long time, except when you realize that your daughter is on a bus heading in the wrong direction and you have no way of contacting her. In my head, I'm imagining that Alicia is starting to get worried as she realizes she's on the wrong bus and I'm trying to figure out how in the world, I'm going to figure out where her bus is and how I'm going to catch up to it.
I finally get to my scooter, and I grab her and my helmet, and I just zoom off (well, as fast as I can, I need to observe the speed limit after all). At first, I just head in the general direction of where the bus is headed. And I stop for a brief moment at the bus stop right after our bus stop to see if the 902 passes by there. I couldn't see any signs, so I just decided to keep going. After a few more minutes of aimless driving, I tried to find the bus route on my phone, and to see if any of the public transport apps have a live GPS of where the buses are. Thankfully, I found one that did. But then I also saw that there were multiple buses traveling along the same route at the same time, and I have no idea which bus Alicia is on.
Now I'm full on anxiety trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to find Alicia, and I just imagine her getting to the bus dept and she's the only one left on the bus, with no way of contacting me, and she's just out in Taipei on her own. At this time, I decide that I better call Linda and ask her to pray. I tell Linda what happened and she's trying to stay calm, but I can tell she's worried, too. I just ask her to keep praying and I will just continue my search.
Before driving off, I decide I better call my FIL to tell him to go home and I will contact him when I find Alicia so he's not just standing out in the hot sun at the bus stop. Well, when I call him, he says very calmly, Alicia is right here next to him. It honestly felt like a weight lifted from my shoulders. I said, wait what? Alicia is there? He said, yes, she's arrived safe and sound. I of course still coming down from my anxiety shot out, well why didn't you call me then? I was really worried. He said, Well, I don't know what you guys did. She took got off the 267 and we walked to the clinic together.
I was really confused, and seriously thought that I was going crazy. I could have sworn that I sent Alicia on the 902 bus, I could see the bus number in my head. How did she end up on the 267? Did I remember the number wrong? Or did God perform a miracle and transfer her from 902 to the 267?
Well, knowing that she was safe, I breathed a sigh of relief and went home to take care of our other two girls.
When Alicia got home later in the afternoon, I asked her what happened. And this is the part that absolutely astounded me and encouraged me and just made so incredibly proud of Alicia and so grateful to God.
So Alicia, when she got on the bus, realized, ON HER OWN, that the 902 was the wrong bus. And ON HER OWN very calmly got off at the next stop and waited for the correct bus, transferred to that bus, and then arrived safely at the clinic. I don't know if you understand what a miracle that is. I mean for the average adult, being able to figure out a bus route, and how to transfer and get to the right place on the right route is complicated enough. But for a 13-year-old girl with CP, the fact that she was able to do that seamlessly I was completely flabbergasted. The funny thing is remember when I said that I stopped at the first bus stop to check if the 902 passed by, she told me she saw me drive by the bus stop. I think I was so anxiety ridden at that time that I didn't even notice her.
I just felt like it was a huge encouragement for Linda and I that she's doing OK, and she's going to be OK in the future. She is slowly growing to become more and more independent. And she will be able to take care of herself one day. I think in the back of Linda and my mind, we're always wondering if we're going to be caring for her for the rest of her life. But seriously, our girl is SO SO SO intelligent! And I'm reminded again of the countless prophecies and encouragements we've received about Alicia that she will be fine!
Phew. God is GOOD!
