6:27 PM
| Sunrise at | 7:58 AM | in direction | 105° | East-southeast |  |
| Sunset at | 6:10 PM | in direction | 255° | West-southwest |  |
If you don't want (or can't get) a driver's license, there are still lots of uses for an Alaskan ID - like providing picture identification for a doctor's office, Alaska State Social Services, and flying with any airline or local air service. Although I made use of my mother's ID at her new physician's office here in Anchorage today, what actually prompted my activities on Wednesday was the need to have an ID to get through TSA to fly here today.
Long ago, Mom stopped driving. She couldn't pass the vision test due to macular degeneration. I actually think it wasn't as bad as she worried about it, but facts are facts and she failed the eye exam twice. Living in Evergreen, CO, she was fortunate to be on a route serviced by the local on call bus. It followed a prescribed route, but you called to let the driver know you needed to be picked up as he or she made rounds. Mom did all of her shopping by bus.
She used her Colorado ID to fly up the first time, this much I know, but I am not 100% sure what happened to her ID once she moved into our house. And once we moved, the winters being what they are, we did all of her shopping for her. Later, I realized she didn't have a photo ID. I asked the State of Alaska what she would need in order to get an ID and they asked if she had a passport - sadly no. They asked if she had her former driver's license - maybe, but where? They told me in lieu of these useful items, she needed her social security card, a copy of her birth certificate, a copy of her marriage license since she no longer used her maiden name, and some item of mail with her current address on it. Bring all that down, she'd sign saying she was who she claimed to be, they'd take a photo and the deed would be done. Nothing could be easier.
And truly that seemed to be the case, but I had no marriage certificate for my mother. I sent away for it, obtained it, and then because I had no real need at that moment, promptly forgot about it. It would cross my mind periodically, but it meant leaving work, picking Mom up from FRA, taking her down to the DMV and la-dee-la-dee-la-da. It never happened.
Then Tuesday night, I had most of Mom's things packed and I began to think through the steps needed to get on the plane. I then remembered the necessity of a photo ID at check in and before TSA screening. I gathered all of my Mom's important papers. I verified what was needed and the next day took time out of work to get Mom and take her to the DMV.
We did not wait too long; I was at a clerk's station within 20 minutes. The first thing she asked for was her social security card. I provided it and she told me it was unacceptable. A million years ago, my mother laminated it. I don't know why, but it was laminated and the clerk very politely told me that due to recent regulations, they couldn't accept a laminated social security card. They needed to verify marks on the card and it was not possible to do that through the lamination. I would need to go to the Federal Building to the Social Security Administration Office and get a letter verifying her social security number .. and it wouldn't hurt to order a new one in the process.
Mom and I got into the Ridgeline and drove to the Federal Building. At first I thought I'd only be a moment, so I wouldn't ask her to walk in and wait for me. Then I thought better of it because there have been times when there were several people ahead of me and I didn't want to risk her getting chilled. We walked into the building and I left her sitting on a bench just outside the security screening area and went in. There was no wait. I was thrilled, but not for long.
I was told that despite being my mother's Power of Attorney, and despite having become her representative payee for social security, I was not her legal representative and they could not issue her Social Security information to me. Nor could they issue a new social security card at my request. I told them that I could go get her, but she probably wouldn't be able to answer all of their questions. The clerk re-stated that she could do nothing without her since I was not her legal representative.
I went and got her, she fumbled through the security scan and we went back. This time we had to wait. Finally, it was our turn again and we approached the window. First question, "Are you Ione A. Taylor?"
"Yes." One down.
"What is your date of birth?"
She scrunched up her face quizzically, saying, "Uh, what is that now ..."
I provided her birthday.
"What is your social security number?"
I provided her social security number.
"Where were you born?"
"California," she said brightly.
I provided the city of birth.
"What was your maiden name?"
I provided her maiden name.
Then the clerk asked her officially was the information that had been provided, to the best of her knowledge, true.
An emphatic, "Yes".
We were then issued two sheets of paper, one of which verified her social security number was the same as that on the little laminated card I had presented earlier. We we back to the DMV, took a second number and waited. This time we waited for even a shorter time than before and I was supplying information for the clerk when she noticed I'd signed the request form and asked, "Can't your mom sign for herself?"
I said no. The last time she'd attempted to sign her name, she'd struggled. She didn't say okay - you can sign for her. Instead she simply looked at me. I went and got my mom. The clerk presented Mom with the form that I had signed as her POA and asked her to sign her name at the bottom.
"Uh, Now let me think, how do I do this .."
I spelled it for her. "I,O, N, E ... A ... T, A, Y, L, O, R." I saw her hesitate after writing the 'A' and spelled it several times. She didn't get "Taylor" right. She spelled it "Teller" but the frustrated clerk took it any way.
Then they wanted her to sign on the electronic signature input screen. She took the stylus and immediately forgot that she should sign her name. Instead she began to doodle, watching what image would be created. I asked if we could start over. The clerk agreed. I asked if I could write it above where she needed to write. The clerk told me I couldn't write on the input screen itself, but how about a Stickie note? Brilliant! We put it up above the input screen. She wanted to write on the Stickie. I pointed to the screen and then she suddenly put it all together in her head and wrote her name in the appropriate place, copying what I'd written. I was so relieved and so was the clerk.
"Good job," she told my mom. Mom quipped it would be a good job (employment) for her - it was a little garbled, but I got her meaning. So, then we went over to get a photo - where she had to sign her name on a screen AGAIN! This time, though, she remembered her name and what she'd been doing and popped it right out.
Then it was photo time. On the first shot, she smiled, but when the photographer said "Good!", she thought she was done and stuck out her tongue in a gesture of relief, just as the image solidified. So we did it again and this time she looked uncertain, but her face was clearly recognizable.
And we made it through customs with relative ease. She did set off the beepers with either the necklace my daughter gave her or her hip surgery. And I moved too soon at the new scanner and had to do a retake, but we made it on the plane and met Gary here as planned. We did not bring oxygen. I remembered the ID, but forgot to get the correct paper work through Aviation Mobility, the company that supports oxygen use for Alaska Airlines ... oh, well.
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