2003 - Part II (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Kellisa wasn’t drinking and her only fluid intake was through the limited food she was eating. There was only so much pudding we could force into her mouth. She wasn’t thriving and required surgery to place a G-tube in the summer. With a G-tube, we would be able to give Kellisa the fluid she needed, and prescription formula would guarantee she would receive all the nutrition required to start growing. Of course, Kellisa suffered from complications that required a second surgery to remove the original G-tube and replace it with another. The doctor had been placing G-tubes for 26 years and Kellisa was the first patient to ever require a second surgery. Kellisa was an expert at confusing doctors.

 

2003 - Part I (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

Kellisa was slowly dying before our eyes and no one in the medical community was able to figure out what was wrong. 

 

Kellisa's smile and love of life were gone. She was battling high fevers for weeks. Nothing was bringing her temperature down to normal. She saw a doctor every few days and was in and out of the ER and hospitals without any relief. Once again, Kellisa was baffling the doctors. 

 

From early on, Lisa was convinced it was the shunt. After a CT scan and MRI, we were assured that the shunt was fine. Kellisa's shunt had been in place for a long enough time that a shunt infection was very unlikely. The neurosurgeon didn’t want to tap the shunt to check the cerebral fluid for an infection because if it wasn’t infected, the procedure itself carried a 2% risk of infecting the shunt. 

 

2002 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Kellisa finally went a year without brain surgery. However, her seizures took a turn for the worse. Kellisa spent five days in the hospital paralyzed after one seizure. The neurologist had no choice but to max out Kellisa’s medications to get the seizures under control. She continued to have seizures, just less frequent and severe with paralysis usually lasting less than an hour.

 

2000 & 2001 (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

 

Kellisa was up at midnight so she could welcome the new year, 2000, into her life since it was a major accomplishment and reason to celebrate.

 

Later in the day, we went to Blue Springs State Park about an hour from our home. We saw a sign that swimming was allowed in the spring, but there was also a warning about the possibility of alligators in the water. Florida was still very new to us and the idea of taking a plunge on New Year's Day into 72-degree water was appealing to me. 

 

1999 - Part III (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

We missed a lot during Kellisa's time in the NICU, but Lisa missed one of the moments that moms cherish and remember forever, getting discharged with their newborn. It wasn't the same, but a nurse wheeled Lisa out of the hospital with Kellisa on her lap. Even with oxygen, monitors, and wires everywhere, it was a beautiful moment.

 

The one normal thing we did was order a large wooden stork to be placed on our front lawn for Kellisa’s arrival. It was huge with a large red heart painted with Kellisa’s name and date of birth. When we arrived home, we took celebratory pictures of Kellisa with the stork in front of our house. After the pictures, Lisa carried Kellisa through our front door for the first time. Kellisa was home.

 

1999 - Part II (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

My dad wasn’t known for sharing his feelings. He kept them inside due to a rough childhood without a father. His father showed up unexpected to say “Goodbye” as my dad left for a tour in Vietnam, just in case my dad didn’t make it home alive. This was the last time my dad would see his father and I would never know my paternal grandfather.

 

My dad learned early and often how to keep his feelings from others. I can only remember him telling me that he loved me once and that was while he was hugging me right after Everett passed away. He whispered those three words into my ear. This would be the first of only three times I ever saw my dad cry. The second would be when my mom joined Everett 8 years later. The third was earlier in the day when he realized we lost Kirsten.

 

1999 - Part I (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Lisa and I rarely purchase alcohol. We decided to buy a bottle of champagne on the last day of 1998. Before checking out, Lisa decided that she wanted to purchase a pregnancy test to be sure she wasn’t pregnant before taking her two sips of champagne to ring in 1999.

 

After many years of countless negative results, I failed to get excited while Lisa went through the process of completing the test. To our shock and excitement, the test came back positive. It was after 10pm on New Year’s Eve, but we wanted to be 100% sure before we got too excited. Lisa found a clinic open and we raced to have another test completed.

 

A Personal Wheelchair User's Experience Flying Southwest Airlines with Assigned Seats

SMF-AUS-MCI

May 9, 2026

MCI-PHX-SMF

May 15, 2026

 

Kellisa flew four segments last week on Southwest Airlines. This was her first trip since Southwest changed their seating policy to assigned seats. Kellisa has flown Southwest almost exclusively over the past 20 years. The only exceptions were trips to Hawaii and Alaska before Southwest started flying to the 49th and 50th states and one trip to Billings.

"A Day of Flights"

9 years ago...1/3 of Kellisa's life has gone by since we gave her the present of "A Day of Flights." May 16, 2017 was one of the greatest days of Kellisa’s life and I haven't been able to come up with a better birthday celebration, despite many hours of racking my brain.

After many months of planning and finally pulling off the day better than I dreamed, I was struggling to post about it. Thankfully, Lisa came to the rescue and for the first time in this blog's history, Lisa has written a post and it captures the day and our gift of flights to Kellisa for her birthday better than I could have ever done. *This is also by far the most popular post on our little blog.

North American Travel Journalists Association - May 2026 Featured Member

Click on the picture to read the brief interview.

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Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Ghosts of Christmas Eve

 

Golden 1 Center

Sacramento, CA

November 28, 2025

3pm

 

Lisa and I saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra back in Jacksonville in 2010, but we could only stay for the first half of the show because we had to get home for the baby-sitter. You will never see another “baby-sitter” typed on the blog because this was the only evening ever that we had someone watch the kids while we went out. I take that back, grandma watched Kellisa and Egypt while they slept once so Lisa and I could see a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

"Accessible doesn't always mean ADA compliant"

 

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A Wheelchair Accessibility Guide to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park

Three years ago, Kellisa and I had a week open for adventure. We decided to spend our time down in the Palm Springs area to explore some new areas while making a return visit to Joshua Tree National Park. Thanks to COVID, this would be Kellisa's first flight in 50 months, by far the longest she ever went without being on an airplane. 

We had such a great time, we thought we would share our guide to the Palm Springs region again for our readers.

Thanksgiving 2025 on the Bay

For the second year in a row, we made the drive to Pier 3 in San Francisco to board a boat for a buffet style Thanksgiving feast while cruising around the bay. The highlights included sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and a close pass of Alcatraz Island. The food was outstanding and we enjoyed some after dinner music and dancing. We also took advantage of the surroundings for several “photo shoots.” I think a tradition has taken root.

 

Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

 Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

Chattanooga, TN

November 2010