Brian and Me

Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, American Airlines put us through hell. We dropped our lives and tried to meet their very last minuteand their ever-growing demands for more medical documentation (even though they had waited for five months to the day before Brian was to travel to tell us what they needed). I don't give up easily. I rise to the challenge but it is a wise person who knows when, no matter what one does, it will not be enough.
We dropped American and went with United. It cost me $800 more but I was not about to let American ruin Brian and mine vacation in Paris.
Brian had few problems on the flight and arrived safe and sound. But when he was here challenges evolved on a daily basis and his body had a difficult time in making the time transitions and med intake. I was ever vigillent in watching out for him most particularly after there was a bloody seizure at the Eiffel Tower. With police, riffled military surrounding him I realized that the personon the ground was my darling Brian. I rushed over as the military pointed their guns at me and yelled at them "I am his mother, his mere, his mamom. Get out of my way". Wisely,they let me through. They knew a mother when they saw one.
We were blessed that a lovely couple from Holland were the first to assist him and kept him from further serious head injuries. But in biting his tongue, lip and inside of his mouth he was covered in blood and there was a pool of blood next to him soaking into the cement.
We were eventually taken to a local hospital although I had requested The American Hospital in Paris. This hospitol was not the poster card for socialized medicine. We realized a long, long wait in the ER and its corridors would ensue and what he needed was to get home and take a missed dosage of medicine and get some sleep. So we left, took a taxi across Paris to the apartment.
In this respect (seizures) we were challenged frequently. As the time progressed, however, he had them less often and with less ferocity.
In between we experienced really high temperatures and loads of rainy days, but still we managed to see: Giverney (photo in follow up photo gallery), Musee D'Orsay, Montmartre ,Opera Garnier, the 3,4,6th arrondissments, Luxemborg Gardens, rue Mouffard, parc de la Villette and parc Buttes Charmont, lots of restaurants, Notre Dame,the Eiffel Tower and took a Seine boat trip.
We enjoyed real croissants; Brian tried foie gras (and liked it), beef carpaccio, and lots of French pastries.
The double sided coin: stress and joy. I choose to remember the joy. I know Brian always does, as well.