Special Needs Parenting

Finding Faith And Friendship On The Special Needs Journey

5 Things I Learned from Our Pilgrimage to the Holy Door

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Ben Holy DoorHoly Doors are massive bronze works of art located in selected cathedrals and basilicas around the world. They are only opened during Jubilee Years which typically occur once every 25 years. Not surprisingly, the traditional Holy Door is in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but on December 8, 2015, Pope Francis announced the Jubilee Year of Mercy and designated 8 Holy Doors around the world. The only one in North America is located at Notre-Dame Basilica in Quebec City. He chose the Basilica to coincide with its 350th anniversary.

Since this door is physically sealed with bricks and mortar once the Jubilee Year ends (which will be in November of this year), we thought we could make our own pilgrimage with Ben to visit Notre-Dame’s Holy Door. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You see, we were planning to take some much needed vacation and visit family in Ottawa. Quebec City, about a 7-hour drive, is directly on the way to Ottawa, which made this idea seemed do-able even though we had never taken a two-week road trip with Ben.

Imagining being away from home for that long, from the daily routine, from the comfort of familiar surroundings was both exciting and terrifying for me. Anything could happen, and it usually does in our world. But our journey was not only do-able but also has taught me 5 powerful lessons.

Ben Holy Door

Ben is very adaptable and very capable if you just give him a chance

This was something I learned long ago. Apparently, it was something I needed to re-learn. Even though I talk a good story about him becoming the person he is meant to be, I realized I had slowly fallen into the trap of putting limits on what I thought he could do. I saw in glaring detail my stifling tendency to get way too fixated on things and micromanage too many areas of his life.

The week leading up to our trip was, in a word, awful. Almost overnight, Ben went from a happy person to someone stricken with some sort of unexplained illness which led to multiple seizures, and very little sleep for everyone. The fear and stress that was generated left me completely vulnerable and unprepared for our trip.

Perhaps that was the reason I was able to see so much more. I didn’t have the energy to micromanage anything. I just let life happen and hoped (and prayed) that I wasn’t being reckless by taking Ben on such a long journey to unfamiliar places.

Ben is fun to travel with

You have to understand (maybe you already do) the weeks of planning necessary to get ready for a trip like this. All the meds, prepared meals, hygiene supplies and the technical gear Ben requires is enormous. For example, we needed to take his walker since he couldn’t be stuck in his wheelchair for two weeks straight. And, we needed his backup (manual) wheelchair – picture securing two wheelchairs in a van – which can be lifted by a few strong individuals into places that are not accessible.

Getting all this organized and packed is real work and exhausting work. There is no carefreeness about simply packing a suitcase and you’re done. Admittedly, the size of this task drained me of much of the anticipation of this trip.

But none of that matter as I witnessed the pure enjoyment in Ben’s eyes and the curiosity in his expressions. His general happiness of having the opportunity to stay in some new hotels and to finally visit his brother’s house was contagious.

For once, we didn’t have to check on Ben back at home to see how his day was going, to scramble when one of his caregivers cancels a shift with little notice, because, of course, he was with us!

It was a glimpse, perhaps, of what life might look like in future years. And it wasn’t the scary place I have envisioned. Honestly, it was just plain fun!

The world is truly abundant

If you’ve never been to Quebec City, you need to visit. It was the Canada Day weekend when we arrived, and the narrow streets of Old Quebec were overflowing with excitement and jammed with people. So jammed, in fact, that it took us an hour just to find an accessible parking spot.

With our travel schedule completely upside down, we decided to stop for lunch at the famous Chateau Frontenac hotel. What an experience! The exceptional personal service we received and the warm and accepting people we met eagerly looked after the little things to help us and Ben feel welcomed and at ease.

It’s so easy to be fearful of our world when you listen to the 24-hour news cycle but that’s not an accurate picture of what the world has to offer. I rediscovered that there are so many things to see if you just get out there and open yourself up. So much fun we can all have. It’s all just waiting for you.

 

 

Read the entire post at Key Ministry for Families …

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Mike George

Mike is co-founder of SoaringFamilies, an online community focused on making a difference in the lives of families impacted by a disability so they can live more freely, more fully and with more energy. SoaringFamilies is about believing in a future that is bigger than the past, creating a world where all persons are accepted and included, and where every life is of equal value. Mike is also an author, speaker, and Inclusion evangelist but, most importantly, he is a parent of a young adult with multiple disabilities, and has invested a lifetime to helping him become the person he is meant to be. His first book, “Third Time Lucky: How Ben shows us the way”, tells a very personal story of our family’s determination to unleash the smart, social, loving son who was trapped deep inside a spastic body. Visit https://www.soaringfamilies.com to learn more.
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