Last week my husband and I enjoyed a visit with our daughter’s family in Chicago. It’s always a pleasure to spend time with our young grandson, and his mom and dad are wonderful hosts and always have great ideas for dining out and exploring the sights. Our trip took on a whole new dimension, though, when my husband slipped and injured his left leg on Saturday. We suspected an injured hamstring and decided a trip to the ER was in order, especially in light of our planned return trip home five days from thence. The entire experience (aside from Harry’s discomfort, of course) was very positive, from the cab drivers who took us back and forth to every staff member we encountered at Advocate Good Samaritan in Downer’s Grove. That includes the janitor who escorted us up two floors and into another wing when we asked him for directions. Excellent customer service is appreciated beyond first-class cabins and five-star hotels! Luckily, the ER was extremely quiet on that frigid but sunny Saturday afternoon, and Harry was checked in quickly, x-rayed and evaluated. Less than two hours after our arrival we were sent off with a prescription for pain meds, a brace for the leg and (to Harry’s chagrin) a walker. Fortunately, we had a few days for Harry to rest up as we evaluated our options for the flight to Portland. Determining that he would need extra space, we found that it would be better to buy the open seat next to him in coach than to get a first-class seat. The Alaska Airlines agent also noted he would need wheelchair assistance when we arrived at O’Hare. We rescheduled our car service pick-up to give us an extra hour at the airport (though we had TSA PreCheck and took advantage of Alaska’s self-tag option and printed our tags at home) and crossed our fingers for good weather. Happily, once aboard, Harry was fairly comfortable and we arrived in Portland a few minutes ahead of schedule. The toughest part of the journey came at the curb at O’Hare, where I had to leave Harry while I dashed inside to the ticket counter to show our boarding passes before the agent could call for the wheelchair, which then took 20 minutes to arrive. TSA PreCheck proved no advantage, as we had to proceed through a specific checkpoint (though we did jump the line) where I did need to remove my laptop, etc. and Harry endured a thorough pat-down (and our wheelchair attendant admitted she did not know this was policy). Another challenge came when we needed to visit a companion/family restroom, requiring me to wheel Harry, as he dragged our carry-on bag and balanced the walker on his footrest, through the crowded terminal several gates beyond ours — I’m sure a comical view from an outside perspective. As the clock ticked toward our boarding time, we waited nearly 15 minutes outside the locked door before a solo, sprightly young man finally emerged and swiftly made his way down the concourse. Perhaps he had a good reason for using those special facilities, but at the time I was not amused. Gate staff at both O’Hare and PDX were extremely helpful and accommodating. The biggest hitch was that interminable wait for the wheelchair initially. There must be some way to ease (and shorten) that transition from the curb to the ticket counter. I can’t imagine how a solo traveler would negotiate the current system alone. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor