The Unexpected

Not in my wildest dreams did I ever expect my life to include a road trip with my daughter. And yet, here I was on the Via Rail Train on my way, with the Propeller Dance Company, to the Tangled Arts Festival in Toronto!

Via Rail - friendly and helpful

Wheelchair Accessible Access

Other than the train ride, I think there was not one logistical thing that went according to my expectations on this trip! But throughout the unpleasant unexpected situations shone the surprising unexpected results.

Here, in a nutshell are some examples:

• The support worker assigned to us was hospitalized a couple days before the trip.
• The Wheel Trans that was scheduled to pick us up from the train was still not there after we waited over an hour.
• The hotel's "accessible room" was inaccessible - even the manual chair of one of the company members could not fit into the bathroom - certainly my daughter's power chair could not.
• The larger suite we were assigned was equally inaccessible and the penthouse suite we were offered had stairs!

As a result of these unexpected challenges:
 The Propeller Dance Company showed me what Community is really about. 

• Immediately, we had volunteers to swap roles and we were assigned a full time support. 
• Immediately, two people got up from their dinner in the hotel restaurant to come help us walk from the train station to the hotel by taking our luggage and being that friendly face we needed when Wheel Trans didn't show up. 
• Immediately, three Propeller men came and removed furniture from the inaccessible suite to make more room for the power chair.  
• AND the hugest most significant part of all of this was that they did it cheerfully, with a sincere heart so that neither my daughter nor I felt like a burden. We were engulfed in their love as part of their team.

I would not give up one of those unexpected challenges for the unexpected blessing of that unexpected lesson.
 

The Propeller Dance Company