The Purpose of this Blog

The Hummingbird is a symbol of peace, wonder, love, and healing. They teach you to appreciate the miracle of living and help you to focus on positivity in your life. The Hummingbird is the joyful messenger, carrying messages between the human world and the spirit world. When a Hummingbird appears, comfort and healing will soon follow. The Hummingbird symbolizes the fragility of nature and all living things.(Mike Bellis)

There are not many posts or blogs that address traveling with a loved one who is “fragile”. Their fragility can be physical or cognitive due to an illness, accident, or even age.  

My husband and I have traveled with a Hummingbird.  Our son was cognitively and physically fragile. Without going through too much detail, our son suffered from inexplainable and unpredictable seizures that rendered his cognitive functioning to no more, at best, than a five year old at times and other times a toddler. He was diagnosed with mild Autism. After being on a ventilator for some time in 2013, at age 18, his mobility was greatly affected. He was bedridden for some time until eventually he became mobile with the help of walkers, gait trainers, and wheel chairs.  Eating by mouth was replaced with a g-tube and he eventually became incontinent. All of these obstacles became a chasm for traveling. And planning for a family vacation became an intensive endeavor.

Sadly, our son passed away at the age of 27 years.  And despite the laborious work and funding that went into planning our family vacations, we are so incredibly grateful for the priceless memories!

In addition we also traveled with elderly parents.  While some of the details of traveling with a special needs child are different, there are many other factors that are very similar, such as mobility and medical needs.  

I hope these posts will bring some confidence and inspiration when traveling with a loved one who is fragile like a Hummingbird.