Some people reveal their true selves when you least expect it. For me, it happened through a tearful call from my grandma, who had been abandoned at the airport because my family found pushing her wheelchair too much of a hassle. They thought they could enjoy their vacation without her and face no repercussions.
After losing both my parents, my family had shrunk to just my dad’s sister, Aunt Liz, her husband Ron, and my two grandmothers—including Grandma Ruth, my last link to my mom’s side. Despite using a wheelchair, Grandma Ruth never lets anyone tell her what she can or can’t do… and that’s one of the reasons I love her so much.
Living three states away with my husband and two kids, while juggling two jobs, made it hard to visit often. So when a bonus check unexpectedly landed in my account, I thought, “Why not give them a memory they’ll never forget?”
I booked my remaining family a fully paid vacation to Paradise Cove. Flights, hotel, meals—all prepaid under my name.
“Amy, you shouldn’t have!” Aunt Liz gushed over the phone. “This is too much!”
“Family comes first, right, Aunt Liz?” I said, and back then, I meant every word.
The morning they left, Aunt Liz posted a photo from the airport gate. All smiles with the caption: “Family is everything! #Blessed”
I was in my office when my phone rang three hours later.
“Hello?”
“Amy…?” Grandma’s voice trembled, barely audible over the airport announcements.
“Grandma Ruth? What’s wrong?”
“I’m still at the airport, honey. They… they left me.”
“Left you? What do you mean?”
“Liz said pushing my wheelchair was too much trouble. That I was moving too slowly and they’d miss their flight. They just… walked away.”
My stomach dropped like a stone.
