I have to write this perhaps long detailed post because I’ve experienced something these past couple of days that was truly incredible. I’ll just leave you to reflect :)
The story starts on a cold misty night at a bus stop. We were waiting for our bus to arrive and a lady called me to bring Audrey and sit in the warm car to wait. She and her husband sat in the front and I sat in the back with Audrey and the lady’s (whose name was Inna) two friends who were going to Chicago after a short visit in KC. Everyone except the husband was from the Ukraine and, after some discussion, we discovered that we were all believers! That was when Inna got super excited. “I knew you were a Christian,” she said. “Your too sweet for the world.” What a great thing to say. She came here for IHOP (International House of Prayer) and shared with me her testimony and lots of great things she’s seen. After we boarded, they all prayed for us and the trip as we saved seats for Inna’s two friends.
It was a night bus, so there wasn’t much conversation, but as Cesar began to feel more and more sick (a cold that he already had worsening, I asked them to pray with us. They did, and it was very nice. But Cesar was getting thirsty and very irritable. He asked me to ask them if they had any Tylenol, and they had a Russian natural something-or-other that he took. They offered him water and he teared up because of how desperately he was needing water and touched by their gift.
Cesar then went back to spread out on two seats and sleep and I tried to keep Audrey asleep and get a little sleep myself (I totalled 2 hours of sleep that night). Around 3am the bus stopped and I knew we may not have another opportunity for water, so Audrey and I went to get some…. She didn’t sleep again the rest of the bus ride and started to get fussy when we got back on the bus. A girl across the aisle from us offered a DVD, Tangled (which Audrey LOVES), which held her until we were just outside of Chicago.
We grabbed a taxi to the Brazilian consulate (because by this time it was drizzling, Cesar was feeling cold inside and out and was also very week). We got there around 7, an hour and a half before the consulate opens so we got breakfast at the cafeteria in the same building.
When I finally went to turn in my visa info, the lady took one look at the money order I’d brought and said it was too much and I would have to walk to the post office (about a 10 minute walk, she said) to get them to change it. So I left Cesar and our stuff at the consulate and took Audrey with me. I thought I’d left the debit card with Cesar, so I walked in the rain to the consulate. By the time I was so nervous because Audrey was cold and wet (as was I) and Cesar was already wanting to go to hospital thinking he had pneumonia.
I chatted with the lady behind me in line a bit while I was waiting. Bla bla bla. Then came my turn and I went up and explained the situation and the lady said that their computer system wasn’t working. I turned to think as she continued to say I’d have to go to another post office and I burst into tears. I just lost it and couldn’t hold it in any longer. The lady behind me rushed to me and said very gently, “Don’t worry. I have a car outside. My husband is there he’s very nice and we will take you wherever you need to go.” When I got to the car, she asked me to tell her husband the whole story. I finished by adding that Cesar was sick and we’d have to go to the hospital and things just seemed to be getting worse as the day went on (and it wasn’t even 10:00, by this time).
They took me to another post office and they said they didn’t have the cash to change the money order (which didn’t make any sense to me when the difference was $20… Just make a MO for $140 and give me $20 back, but what do I know). She said I’d have to go to my bank, cash the money order, come back and buy another money order (because it HAS to be a USPS money order for visa services). Well, the visa window CLOSES at 11! I thought that I may not make it, but figured I’d look in all my pockets, that maybe I did, in fact, have my debit card with me… and I did! Yay! So I turned back and just bought another money order (I’ll cash the first one at my own bank this week or next). The lady was still with me and escorted me through everything I was doing and then she and her husband dropped me off at the Brazilian Consulate. Before they left me, though, they gave me their phone number and address and told me the hospital I should go to. She gave me her address, she said, just in case Cesar had to stay overnight and we needed anything. Wow. Complete strangers!
I got back to the consulate and the paperwork went fairly smoothly. THEN, just as we were finishing the last bit (Audrey’s passport), Audrey got away and ran for the door. Somebody had just gone out and it was a heavy glass door, and when her finger caught in the door, I thought for sure we were now going to the hospital for a broken finger and a sick hubby, but the dent filled out and she bent her fingers without problem, so as she calmed down I knew she was fine.
From the consulate, we went to to hospital. Then, my grandpa called saying he was on his way to meet us at the hospital. Have I ever mentioned how amazing my grandpa is? He saved us in so many ways. When he got there, Cesar was getting X-rays. We waited to see what the results were, and found out that Cesar just had a virus. They gave him an inhaler for his breathing problems and pain meds to get his fever down, help with his pain and maybe help dull this hot/cold sensations.
Grandpa then said that he would take us to Morton so that Cesar could properly rest (so no reviews from the MegaBus return trip other than we’re bummed weren’t able to get a refund, even though I tried to change our status as early as 7 hours ahead of our scheduled departure time of 11:55pm). I kept thinking during the time yesterday and today with my grandpa what I would be doing at that same moment if he hadn’t come to save us. Chicago was rainy and very cold. We would have had to walk anywhere we would have wanted to go, and would have had to wait at a bus stop in all of that late at night. My trip plans had definitely not included rain, cold, and a sick man. I had hoped to walk around and enjoy the Chicago I so loved, but I got something much better– some much needed time to talk and soak up my dear Grandpa before going to Brazil.
So, Grandpa drove us the whole way back to Kansas City (we relaxed and spent the night at his place and left around 9. Travel with Grandpa is rather relaxing in that while we drive long ways at a time, when we stop, we get out, walk around and sit down to eat and enjoy each other’s company. Audrey was wonderful the entire time and by the end of the trip was saying her own version of the word “Grandpa,” which she’s still saying now– switching between Grandpa and Quack Quack, two words which I never thought would sound so alike. haha. But what can I say, she’s a Drake ;).
We ended our time at a Brazilian restaurant that just opened in North Kansas City called Fazenda (great Brazilian food paid per pound). And I can honestly say, at the end of all of this, that as emotional as it all was and the pressure I felt, I have never felt more blessed, and that this trip could not have been better. I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.