It’s D.C. or Bust!

I have typed out this blog post several times and lost it completely! I want to cry… but this trip was too wonderful not to share!

My sweet daughter, Amanda, is working on her history major at BYU (she wants a life in the world of Academia as a PHD). She got a grant to fly to Washington D.C. to get some important primary sources from the deaf school, Gallaudet University. Amanda is fluent in ASL and very passionate about the deaf community, which her capstone project for her bachelor’s degree highlights. She asked if Anthony and I would like to tag along, and of course, we said, “yes!” At the last minute., Anthony rearranged his schedule, and we bought our plane tickets! It was D.C. or bust!

Amanda had to work around the University’s time, so we bought ourselves metro/bus tickets, and worked our way around the city and made reservations for the school. Our hotel was right in the middle of everything we wanted to see, thanks to the BYU travel agency! We were walking distance to the White house and to the Ford Theater, where Lincoln was shot. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (a great memory I had as a young teenager), and bought matching T-shirts! We were the consummate tourists!

I learned a lot about the deaf community as toured Gallaudet University. I felt like a bad Mom, as I’m sure it looked like I had a deaf daughter who speaks sigh language, and I can’t communicate with her because I don’t speak it! I’m going to try to learn. Amanda says she will help me! There was one time she was asked, in the past, “Do you speak sign language because your Mom is blind?”… She said, “Think about that!…” Truly, I am blind enough to not be able to drive, and to be put on the blind registry so I get free audio books, but I can see! I just don’t see well. I tell people that most of sight is in your brain. I saw well for many years, and now my brain fills in! It’s all good! The fact of the matter is, this trip made me want to learn sign language. I met some truly wonderful people I would love t communicate with, but they only speak ASL! Goals, goals!!!!

We had lots of experiences in the four days we were in Washington D.C. On our second day, we walked over to the White House. Russia had just invaded the Ukraine, and there were a few people out protesting. There was a nice man out there who let me use his sign for a picture! I got to protest the war for a minute! Go Ukraine!

We did a lot of walking. I learned a lot about my limits on this trip! It was very hard! I love to walk, but since the MS has messed with my legs, I drag my left leg. I can’t feel most of that leg. My right leg has had to compensate for a long time, and this trip showed me that there was a limit to how much I can ask of myself. I was a long-distance runner for many years, and I truly thought that grit and determination could get me through anything. I learned that no matter how hard I tried, there were times that my legs just wouldn’t work. It was hard, and it was painful. It was embarrassing to me. To look at me, you would think that anything was wrong, but as time went on, I couldn’t see or walk hardly at all.

So this is my GOOD blog. What was good about my legs and feet failing on this trip? Well, I was with my wonderful Anthony and Amanda! They helped me and encouraged me! I know I have limits, so I will have to make changes for my next trip. Life is an adventure… hard parts included! –In fact, it’s the hard parts of life that make the good times worth more!

I couldn’t write about my trip to D.C. without talking a little about my past trip as a young teenager. I learned to truly love and appreciate out country during a trip over 30 years ago with my family. My Dad was an elementary school principal, and had July off. My family took a three week vacation and toured all over Washington D.C. and rented a car and toured around the Virginia area, where we had friends we stayed with for a week of it. My family and I had a truly memorable time as we saw and learned about our country’s founding years. We even got to go to the coming home parade for the first Desert Storm, and saw our troops march proudly! We had many great memories! I always wanted to come back, and these great memories truly influenced me!

Anthony and Amanda had old memories as well. I couldn’t find a picture, but Anthony got to go D.C. when he was 19, and spend a couple of weeks as a mission companion to his brother, Aaron. Aaron was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint on a two year mission in the D.C. area. Anthony’s two year mission to New Zealand was going to overlap, and they wouldn’t be able to see each other for years. Somehow, they got it approved to have Anthony spend some time before his own mission with his brother in D.C. It was definitely a memorable time for both of them!

Amanda got to go on a special one-week school tour of Washington D.C. at the end of her 8th grade year! She had really wanted to go when she heard about it at the beginning of her 7th grade year. We took two years paying and fundraising, but she had a wonderful time, and it was her first time being away from home for so long! She will never forget either!

We crammed a lot into our four-day trip, but although a short visit, the memories will last a lifetime! I’m so proud of my beautiful Amanda, and grateful she wanted Anthony and I to come! She loves to travel, and I hope she will continue inviting us on some f her adventures!

Washington D.C. has changed a lot in the years since I went as a kid, but a lot has stayed the same for a couple hundred years! I found the city pretty clean, and the people very nice! There is a lot to see and do, and our four days couldn’t cover it all, but I was surprised at all that we DID get to see! I am grateful for every adventure I get to go on in life!