Riding on a plane is way too stressful of a situation already for me, no matter where I am headed. And right when you think you have encountered every problem MS throws at you while traveling, you have a growing and curious little girl who has zero understanding of the concept of hustle and then gets car sick on our way to the airport. This caused the ever so patient airport shuttle driver to keep circling the lot waiting for us to clean up and take care of our sweet girl before risking the cleanliness and comfort of his other passengers, which we all completely understood. This was a very important but unplanned trip, which is just how life works sometimes. It is of the utmost importance to always go with the flow and play the hand that has been dealt to you always.

We make our way through the long security line and then ride the train to the terminal having to seriously hustle to our gate. Then, as we feel rushed and stressed already, the perfect entrance I always expect from my BFF, MS, is waiting to make its heartfelt appearance. My left leg stops working. MS often does this in stressful situations….maybe it’s a test? Perfection really. Seriously, with 3 minutes until the airplane door closes and my left leg was suddenly like “nah, I’m just gonna lock up and make this last 1/2 mile a reeeeeal challenge for you, ensuring that every single eyeball will be on you (and your poor family) as the gate doors are re-opened and we let you on the plane with a hesitant eye roll”. We find our seats and buckle up, trying to be the quickest, most friendly……late passengers ever.

Of course, me limping the entire time let them know something was wrong while they also quietly wondered why we weren’t at the airport and gate WAY earlier. For the record, we did leave our house which was 1/2 hour away from the airport, over 3 hours early for our 8:50am flight. Perhaps next time I will just pull up a cot right there next to the gate and wait patiently for my flight.

Oh no, I can see it now, I will run (Ha!) to the bathroom right before boarding and be in the exact same situation, because the speed of my legs leave a lot to be desired, to put it as nicely as I want to here in writing.

As time goes on, I feel like I am learning to laugh off the imperfections of my MS body a little better when these situations arise. As embarrassing as it is in the moment, it’s just another great reminder for me to always be kind, stop the judgement and pass on a smile. You never know what another person’s story is, and it just may be far worse than your own.