It is Mike’s 51st Birthday, he has never seen Niagara Falls so it was fitting to outline that we would be in the Niagara State Park to commemorate his special day. We went to the park very early so we could beat the tourist crowd.
Angelman Syndrome kids always have a love affair with water. Visualize Matthew being in a place that unchained his inhibitions, yet because it is a tourist spot, it will trigger his sensory processing disorder. The place is the epicenter of calm before the storm. As we walk around the park, he sees a huge pool of water and he repeatedly utters … “pool and sign the word swim”. We explained that it isn’t a swimming pool and it is very dangerous so he needs to be holding Dad and Mom’s hands at all times. Matt wasn’t having it though. The proverbial “elephant” was banging and started to show itself. While repeating the conversation and simultaneously telling him no, he wouldn’t budge and then it happened; the “elephant inside him” burst through and was out in full force. As my husband and I tag teamed to restrain him; he was hitting, screaming and fighting to pry free of our grip. We could see all the people staring at us and the commotion Matt was causing. The more upset he got the worse it would be so the scenarios are starting to play through my head, and I knew that if we don’t leave the place now, we might be on the Front Page news with one of the below headlines:
Adding the amount of restraints we have to put in place and Matthew screaming on top of his lungs, the eyes that were staring and glaring at us were enough for us to say — “ok, we have had enough, we came, we saw, we said our goodbye.” Hurriedly, we left the horseshoe shaped waterfalls and rode the tram towards the parking lot as Matt hit a passenger and then the driver because he didn’t want anyone near us. ☹ Both hubby and I were so exhausted that the “wow factor of Niagara Falls” was short lived but we did get a few pictures.
We left the park and we were thinking “what else we can do to kill time before heading back to the campground?” We decided to take Matt to a “splash pad” to hopefully calm him down but as adventurous as Mike is, he thought that it would be impactful to take a “picture of the family with our AS shirt” near the Canadian border. As we drove the bridge connecting the USA and Canada border, there was a sign that said “last exit before Canada”. Well, unknowingst to us, it was barricaded and closed so we couldn’t turn around back to the US without proceeding forward to Canada.
At this point, both our hearts were palpitating very fast. To make matters worse: as we are nearing the patrol guard, Mike realized that his gun is still in the vehicle, in the safe. We thought — oh, oh, we are in deep trouble, and the panic is setting in our eyes.
At this point, both our hearts were palpitating very fast. To make matters worse: as we are nearing the patrol guard, Mike realized that his gun is still in the vehicle, in the safe. We thought — oh, oh, we are in deep trouble, and the panic is setting in our eyes.
As we arrived at the Custom Border, the officer is a Filipino who migrated in Canada. We explained about the annual cross country awareness we are doing and exchanging pleasantries … he asked, “What are you bringing with you in Canada?” Mike disclosed about the gun. As he quipped, what else? Mike responded, we have a bag of CDB gummy bears to help with our son’s seizure. The agent responded and said “are you really serious”? — At this point, his behavior turned 180 degrees, he shut his door panel and never talked to us until all the documents were filled. As nervous as we were, we still managed to laugh it off and joked that at least “we all get to jail together”. The custom officer explained the infractions and motioned us to move our vehicle to the “search area”.
Although it was a serious matter the customs agents that came to our vehicle were very polite for they didn’t force anyone out of the vehicle and after learning about Matthew, they allowed us to take him out of the vehicle so that it didn’t upset him further. We got out of our vehicle, detained for 1 ½ hours at the parking lot while 4 other agents were searching every square inch of the vehicle. Since CBD is illegal in Canada, we were worried of the repercussion. While I have lost my sense of humor at the Canadian border, Mike, as joker as he is, he was telling me “we are now an international drug traffickers”. We waited for the verdict nervously. Then one agent came out and explained to us that while the “drug is illegal and will be confiscated”, the gun will have to be dealt with at the US Customs. Then as he escorted us back to the USA border, we profusely apologized. As he jovially mentioned that if there weren’t people like us … “living a life on edge” … their jobs will be so boring.
We entered the USA border. We were not greeted with a smile. The interrogation was to the point. Why did you cross the border? Why are you carrying a gun? Where is the gun license? I felt like it was a scene from a spy movie gone awry. We were detained for 45 minutes and as they released us, the agent explained about the New York gun law. If you are transporting a gun and you are passing through New York, it is not illegal to carry one, it becomes illegal when you are staying in New York for any period of time.
You would think that we had enough and were ready to call it quits for the day but we knew that Matthew had a very rough day so we still wanted to try and make it end on a happy note. We found a “splash pad” close by and he was happy to play in the water…Finally! 🙂
We were thanking God for whatever favor His hand has on this trip as the US agents released us and precaution us what to do next. Regardless of the debacle we have been through, we continue to thank God for His continued protection on our journey. Whether the struggle is deliberate and or an accident, we continue to see the positive impact of our awareness even if it is a bit scary, or we struggle at times. Memories are made.
