My daughter has been wanting to visit her grandparents for a while, and lately it has been a frequent subject of conversation. With school starting back up again on Monday, I felt like if we were going to go anytime soon, we’d better go now. So, I sucked it up and asked my boss for a few days off – I don’t have PTO saved up yet – and booked a flight. We left last Sunday and just got home today (Wednesday).
I’m glad we went. My daughter was happy and excited the whole time, and meticulously made my mother do some of the activities they used to do. My mother is no longer up for gardening the way she used to, and she couldn’t play dress-up, but they re-arranged my mother’s shell collection, read books, played Chinese checkers, and swam in the pool.
My mother is out of the wheelchair and getting around with a cane. She’s recovered quite a bit from the surgery in January, and gets out of the house occasionally if someone else drives. I wanted to see for myself how she’s doing, and her progress is encouraging.
My father is doing all of the housework and cooking these days, and it’s a complete 180 from how things used to be: my mother used to wait on him hand and foot; now he’s doing the serving. I look on it as an opportunity for him to work off some of his karma.
My daughter has slept in my bed for a week, and my back is screaming. We have to be up early tomorrow to take her up to my back-up daycare for the next 2 days, and then we settle into the new school year.
Friday night is back to school night, when I’ll find out who her teacher will be.
I’m exhausted, I’ve got a ton of stuff to do in the next couple days, but I am glad we took this trip now. The idea of going was a persistent thought for a while, and I’ve learned to listen to the voice in my head that keeps whispering a message. It has served me well so far.
But man, I need to get some sleep!
2014 goals
10 years ago
