Howard and Flo and the beach

Taken @the Sacramento Train Museum the day before the ocean trip

The day before Bill died, Howard and Flo took Bill to Ocean Beach in San Francisco to have lunch and watch the surf.  On the way back, he had a panic attack, and to make a VERY long story short, we ended up at the hospital with our van, Bill’s wheelchair, my CRV and 3 drivers.  The final score:  Bill and I were to get home via ambulance, Flo took my Honda and Howard, agreed to manage the wheelchair and the van.  Yes…you heard me correctly, Bill's brother was now in charge of a 250 pound motorized wheelchair that he had never driven.  But hey, he was pretty smart (an attorney!), it had a joystick, really… what could possibly go wrong?! 

After a couple of quick instructions, he sat in the chair and drove away.  The chair had variable speed control and could go as high as six miles an hour, and when you’re sitting down, that’s really fast…trust me!  Bill was used to it and had in fact set the speed at MPH, and Howard managed to navigate through the emergency room, out to the parking lot. 

At this point, it is important to note that the garage required advance payment at a machine before you could exit.  Busy with his own thoughts and no doubt worrying about his brother, Howard stood up, got his wallet out of his back pocket and put his money into the machine.  Now I’m sure the thoughts racing through your minds right now were the very same ones shared by a couple of very puzzled bystanders!   What the heck!?  And yes…Howard realized they were staring at him!  He finished the transaction, looked them straight in the eye and said “It’s a miracle”!  He got back into the chair and sped away.  

I can only imagine the prayers that were offered later that evening!