Take Two

So, I will try this again.....sometime, early in June ...I spent about an hour on a blog post.....( it usually takes about an hour to write one)( I'm a slow typist)... And just when I touched the words that said to post...it disappeared...ALL of it....never to be seen again....it's somewhere in cyberspace...just bouncing around....I was discouraged and so, it's been a while since I've written....but I will try again....

It's been a very busy few months....our son Paul got married to his long time girlfriend Sara....there were festivities leading up to it, and then the big day...the weather was perfect and the day went off without complaint!

Then, Don and I were deep into the nitty gritty preparations for our big trip....a trip that we had kept under wraps for two years, while we scrimped and saved. For about three years, we had wanted to go on a river cruise over in Europe....but they are very expensive.....very expensive.....plus I had never been overseas before....Don and I talked about it and decided that if we were going to go to the time, expense and trouble of going all the way to Europe that we should really try and see something other than just one river....you know, some of those places you always see on TV but never dreamt that you'd ever get to see.....so....we narrowed it down to two areas in Italy.....Positano and Amalfi....

Before Don and I can even book a holiday we have to make sure that the caregiver care for our three adult children, who live at home is taken care of....these three are all at various levels of needs due to there intellectual delays. So, our go to person for care longer than a day, is our church secretary. A woman in her forties , who is on her own and the kids like and get along with her....so....months ago.....in fact it could have been last fall, we checked with and booked her for that time frame.

Then, because we were staying in Europe after the cruise...we had to book other flights and accommodations for the two weeks that we wouldn't be on the cruise. Don loves doing that part...really, I think he should become a travel agent when he retires. So, he looked after all that kind of thing to do with the trip....and I looked after the things to do with the house and kids. Detailed lists and schedules were composed.....necessary people were notified....we told our kids that didn't live at home....they were quite surprised!

Why all the secrecy? Well, it was mostly because of our kids that still live at home....our son Ben would take it in stride....but Megan would tell the world ....she has difficulty not sharing with everyone she meets and since Maya had her first breakdown 2-1/2 years ago, we've been extremely careful to shield her from stress and anxiety. Her security is tightly bound up with Don and I , so this makes it quite difficult to get away for any length of time. This was going to be the longest that we'd ever been away...three weeks!

So, we managed to make all preparations in going away....except for actually putting everything into the suitcases ....without the in house kids knowing. The caregiver Shelley, was all set to come. Maya was going to stay at her oldest sisters' place, the lists were printed off and all we had to do was tell the kids.....which we did....the night before....they each reacted differently .....Ben was quiet, as I expected him to be....Megan was excited, thrilled and happy beyond belief!.....you see there are certain things that she's not allowed to do that as soon as I'm not home, she does....she was thrilled to know that all this opportunity was being handed to her!....and Maya....Maya was immediately concerned, we assured her that she was going to Leslie's and EMPHASIZED that she would have the use of Don's car, for three whole weeks to go wherever she needed to go.....we kept on emphasizing that because we knew that would please her.

So, the next day, we hurriedly packed, my sister drove us to the airport and our European Adventure was about to begin!

We had an amazing trip...a once in a lifetime trip....although we were so thrilled at the river boat cruise that I'm thinking that if we start saving now that maybe we could go on another one...a different river...maybe the Danube this time...maybe , just maybe we might be able to go, Lord Willing....in eight years for our fiftieth! I may be dreaming in technicolour cause in the next few years Don will be retiring and we've already figured out that funds will be rather scarce.....but, who knows...only God does ..so we'll see.

If this blog post, actually posts this time...well, then maybe I'll do a post on our actual trip...what we did and where we went.....

A trip of a lifetime...it certainly was.




~ Marie