How nice and absolutely the right thing to do. I’m curious why you didn’t pay tolls as you went along instead of waiting for a bill with fees.

I love my EZ Pass. Just zip on through the toll booths, often using the lanes that are just for EZ Pass holders. I also like that it’s a pay as you go arrangement, not a yearly fee that you might or might not use.

I drove to my mothers care facility (2 hrs) and took her to an emergency dental appointment last week. She is 93 and frail, some dementia and significant osteoporosis. I had the facility van bring her to meet me at the dentist in order to make the emergency time slot Kaiser had given us.

I was met outside the dentists and interviewed, had my temp taken. Same with DH and he was allowed to go inside and use the bathroom, we hadn't stopped any place in our rush to get there with no notice. I was visiting with the staff outside and told them, I'm so distressed Mom has pain, but this will be the first time I've been with her and not through a window screen since March. I think she must have told the rest of the staff because they treated us like royalty, almost a cheering squad. And that was everyone, big smiles and encouragement greeted us. The dentist said, you are not in my way, step back up here and hold her hand. I'd apologized for dropping my mask to reassure and include mother who is quite deaf, and her dentist answered it's OK, your mother is responding to your voice and reading your lips and expressions. Don't worry about your mask when she was herself both masked and shielded.

When I stopped at the desk to check her out when finished, staff wouldn't take my card when I'd been told there would be a pay-up-front fee for an emergency. They said they'd removed emergency from the appointment code.

I took her back to her residential facility and spent about 40 minutes with her in the parking lot before taking her to the door, getting in lots of hugs, kisses and hand holding. DH too. (the broken tooth was removed and she had no residual pain or discomfort, returned to her normal routine immediately)

Dedtired, some of the newer toll roads do not have booths. It is all online billing or EZ Pass type device. The 3 bridges between Southern Indiana and Louisville, KY are like that. They shoot a picture of your license plate and the owner of the vehicle gets the bill.

That is a lovely story @morz8 - Washington Coast ! So glad you got to spend all that time with your mom. 😊

What a nice office staff, morz! I know your mom was comforted to have you close by.

Dedtired, it's open road tolling. You don't even have to slow down! Here around Chicago there is open road tolling, but there are still booths or toll baskets if you need them.

Oh, morz, what a sweet story. What a gem of a dentist. I am so happy you were able to be with your precious mother.

Nice but I am confused. Is this a Canadian transponder? We don’t have an annual transponder fee.

It is Canadian, it might be just for the 407. Maybe it’s more of a prepaid thing, with a minimum. We do that for our Illinois transponder, it’s prepaid with a minimum. Love that we can use our Illinois transponder in more than one state now!

Morz, that made my day.

Morz, that is a sweet story. I won't share with my mom 'cause I'm already worried she will fake an illness just so we can see each other for real. The behind glass thing is just not a great situation. Yay for all the folks who made that possible. In my mother's case I think a staff from her facility would not allow it (they are like prison guards...not their fault, but it is a terrible situation!)

jmck, that had actually occurred to me. My mother could just about manipulate well enough she might fake illness to have me back and holding her ;0) She called me that night on her caption call phone and asked us to come over. I explained that was for the dentist earlier that day but that we still couldn't come upstairs to her apartment. Emphasized 'soon' but of course I don't know.

Staff there has done an amazing job of keeping all safe and well all these months, I have nothing but gratitude for them.

I was given some (hushed) tips from someone with some authority of how we might be able to take her out for a few hours and not have her quarantined to her apt when returning her. I was believed when telling how carefully we've conducted ourselves all this year keeping her safety in mind. She wasn't restricted to quarantine in her apartment when I returned her from the dentist. But DH is hesitant to 'bend the rules', do anything that might in some way risk her health. I'm still considering as feeling loved and being touched is important too. It might mean a nearby hotel room where we could just cuddle and watch a movie one afternoon.

A family friend has been writing to my Dad every month. We get notes from folks at church. I try to pay it forward by sending notes and pictures to folks I know aren't online.

Bpath, that is wonderful they have treated your case that way.

And Morz, what a sweet story! It makes be so happy to hear you were able to be with your dear mother during this time, which could have been such a scary experience for her. Cheers to the dental staff and everyone who made it a smooth day for all of you.

The toll thing is greek to me. We don't have tolls in our area.

How very kind they were Morz! My dad has been in the hospital twice and first time my sister and I were able to swap out days staying with him. The second time, only one visitor could be there the entire hospital stay and it had to be the same visitor. My sister is a nurse educator, and has my dad's healthcare POA, so she was the one to stay that visit. We've been doing door visits for some time and October 1 started inside visits. Dad's facility has a large hallway to one side, just inside the door. There is a seating area and we are on one side and dad on the other. It's been so nice. And Pink, dad has rec'd cards from church friends too. I have been doing the same to shut-ins from our church and my mom's lunch bunch ladies that I miss so much! We have not had our monthly lunch date since February. Myself and another daughter fill our mom's spot in the monthly lunch for a group of friends from high school (some even earlier). Most of these ladies are 82-83 yrs. old. I love them!!

The only thing I can think of was when my dad went into the hospital for surgery in July, I wasn’t going to be able to visit, but I was allowed to drive him from his asst living place to the hospital (that in itself was a big deal because of covid protocol). When I brought him to the pre op area, the nurse told me I had to leave but then called me in to where my dad was getting set up ... she said, you can say goodbye and give him a hug. We had been hands-off (and still are) since March, so I looked at her questioningly. She smiled and said, YES, give him a hug! We’ve been just doing “elbow bumps” since then but I was glad the nurse bent the rules for us.

DH has been giving huge tips when we get takeout or eat out (outdoors). I’ve been doing some new volunteer gigs. Trying to do what we can during this lousy time.

Oh, Morz... that story made my day. Thank you for sharing it. I hope this pandemic expands our perspective of the needs of our elderly, as well as the grace and care that so many care workers have given them.

I've had a difficult couple of months with family emergencies and found myself behind on a work contract. I mostly work remotely, and a few weeks ago had to call one of my employers (whom I've never met, and for whom I'm one of hundreds of contractors--but I've been working for them for years) to explain why I was behind on a project. He was so understanding... so empathetic and even offered me extra assistance. I wanted to cry with relief.

Morz your story made me tear up. What I'd give to be able to hug and love on my sweet Momma! But she's 6 hours away. :-(