One blessed day, I got a call from a nun at my parish church - Blessed Trinity in Orlando, Florida. She stated that they were very worried about a parish member who had recently been hospitlalized due to a bus accident and was convalescing at home. This parishioner lived in my apartment complex. Sister said they had been trying to call her for days without an answer. When I suggested she might be visiting friends, they informed me that she had no relatives or friends here except her church friends. So, I proceeded to the apartment door of Kalyani Annamraju,. After knocking on the door several times, yelling, and getting no answer--I convinced the apartment maintenance man to open the door. I was very, very fearful of what we might find since Sister Cathy had told me that Kalyani was disabled and used a wheelchair to get around. When we walked in we found only an empty apartment. The maintenance worker showed me that there was only one wheel chair (Kalyani had two). The wheel chair she used for travel was missing. So, he concluded, she must be travelling, or back in the hospital. Sometime later, Sister Cathy called me back and told me that they found out Kalyani had been visiting relatives in Minnesota.
Several days later, there came a knock on my door. I was greeted by a very angelic-faced person in a wheelchair who thanked me profusely for my concern, and apologized for being such a bother. From that day, my friend, Kalyani and I have enjoyed each others company and family. Going to church services, religious gatherings, Disney, NASA,etc. It was after listening to others refer to her as "Sister" that she finally intimated that she was a nun, and a former associate of Mother Theresa----in fact, Mother's personal assistant. Kalyani said she never thought of mentioning it. I told Kalyani that was a pretty important detail to leave out ; A lot of people around us probably thought I was being disrespectful by not referring to her as "Sister" , however, to this day she insists that I still call her by her first name.
I cannot express the intelligence of this woman. Her stories of Mother Theresa are thrilling.; Kalyani lives very simply, and insists upon doing so---refusing any frilly gifts. Books piled up on rickety shelves that look like erectort sets....but, OH! does this little lady have a lot brewing under the rim. When she called me one day and told me of her encounter with the Lynx transportation service for the disabled---I almost died.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY
In 1996, when I suffered my first heart attack, I was ordered by my doctor not to drive, and he had a hospital social worker arrange service from Lynx to transport me to and from the doctor and the hospital, then to work when I completed home convalescence. The service was terrible. . I got off work at 4:30p.m., however Lynx sometimes showed up as late as 6:30p.m.--- or too early--4:00p.m. They only waited 10 minutes, so I had to beg to leave early or wait until late evening for another van. Quietly I suffered until I could start taking the regular transportation. I could, occassionally, get a ride from friends at work,etc. Kalyani and I lived in the same apartment complex as did other disabled persons, but Lynx could not get their service organized enough to pick us all up at the same time. So as time went by, I started taking public transportation, then, later, I got my own van. Kalyani and I both moved away to different areas of greater Orlando. Kalyani still taking the Lynx system, even refusing help from her family to purchase a special equipment automobile for her. Well-l-l-l this is all to the dismay of the corrupt Lynx (city bus service) owners. Kalyani stated, one day they pushed her too far. The daily dispatcher had wrote down the wrong destination for her, and when they discovered this, they decided that taking her to work was out of their way of scheduled pick ups. They told Kalyani they were removing her from the van (so they thought). She refused, holding on to the van's inner structure (GO! GO! FREEDOM FIGHTER)) The van's driver reported this to his superiors who called the sheriff's police. A posse of police cars surrounded the Lynx van where Kalyani was taking her stand. Then they sent in a hostage negotiator" (no less). Kalyani challenged them at every turn quoting the Constitution and all laws that assured her rights as a disabled person. Redneck cops, as she called them, became incensced at her obvious superior intelligence and physically dragged her in the motorized wheelchair off the van, to the horror of neighbors, and church members who had come to her aid. (See Related Articles on Florida Law Enforcementclick here
Since this incidence, Kalyani, who is currently studying at Valencia College, has been a strong fighter for disabled rights and is on the governor of Florida's (JEB Bush) committee for transportation for the Disabled
I am so proud to have such a strong spirited person as a friend. Kalyani is all of 4'2'' if she is even that tall, but she is a giant of an intellectual, and brings the spirit of God with her where ever she goes. A true angel moving (in a wheelchair,no less) amongst us. |
