The lure of home. It moves us both physically and emotionally this time of year. It also helps explain the gurney being wheeled up the Jetway at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Monday evening.
Gate G-19 is the gateway to Minnesota for three-year-old Mikki Naftali who will have a new home for the holidays, and her raised-in-Minnesota mom who will finally have her homecoming.
"She's smart. She's very intelligent," said Paula Naftali, as she stands in the gate area, next to her daughter. "She talks with her eyes."
Mikki was born in Florida with a degenerative muscle disease that has robbed her of the ability to walk and talk. She needs a ventilator to breathe and the kind of round-the-clock care for which a large extended family can come in handy.
Paula knew she had that back in Minnesota, if she could just get her daughter home.
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"It's pretty unheard of to relocate 1,500 miles with a patient who's on a vent with a terminal illness. It's a big deal."
Allina Medical Transportation donated the ambulance and crew that carried Mikki and her nurse from the airport to Cloquet. Many others - some family, some not - pitched in too.
"Unbelievable," said Paula when asked about the generosity of Minnesotans.
Mikki was greeted by kisses from sisters Cheyenne, 5, and Gillian, 7, upon her arrival at the apartment her mother rented in Cloquet. "It's a big relief," says Paula. "It feels good to be home."
Story reprinted with permission from reporter Boyd Huppert at KARE 11 News in Golden Valley, Minn.
