It was my intention to blog each of my road trips and adventures as they happened. I took the entire month of July off to have what I've affectionately dubbed my "Eat. Pray. Love. Month", obviously the movie has served as an inspiration to me. Unfortunately, I lack the resources to take a year and travel the world, but I realize how blessed I am to be able to take just this month, as my guess is, many people are not able to do this. (Let me just say, where there's a will, there's a way.) While I'm at it with the cliches, let me also say, "the best laid plans of mice and men."
Plans. They are a great idea in theory, aren't they? My plans were to travel west with my kids. We have a bucket list of things we want to see and I have friends out west we would be able to visit. For personal reasons we decided to modify our trip so instead we ventured north where we visited Mystic, Connecticut and Cape Cod, Massecheusetts on our way to Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Our route home included a fun filled visit with family in Middletown, Rhode Island. This trip lasted one full week after which we returned to home base to spend time with family and relax. We had been reluctant to shorten our travels to only a week as opposed to the 4-6 week trip we originally hoped to take, but ultimately I can say I am thankful to have been back home for this last two weeks.
My grandfather was hospitalized while we were on our tour of New England. He had been through many health issues and hardships in the last year and a half. Returning to Pennsylvania when we did allowed us the time to visit and support our family. "Mean'O", as I have affectionately called him since age 2, spent periods of time in ICU and eventually underwent surgery for a hernia repair. We feared he wouldn't make it through, that his heart, lungs and kidneys could not take yet another procedure. When he powered through it we became hopeful and excited that perhaps this time he would feel better than he had in a long while. I was happy to take opportunities to take my kids for a visit to lift his spirits and distract my mom from the worry I knew she was overwhelmed with. It's a neat feeling when you enter a room and see someone's eyes light up. It's a feeling of knowing you're loved and knowing you are in the right place in the right time. Some visits, he was able to breathe well enough to speak. All visits he was definitely aware of his surroundings.
On one of my visits, he called me to his side to ask how my dating was going. He was aware that I had decided it was time to date and that the whole idea was quite baffling to me as I have never done much dating. I tend to be a "serial monogammer" as I call it. He couldn't say much. He had little breath to work with. I laughed when he inquired knowing I had just gone on a few dates...I had shared this with him and the family as a means of comic relief if you will, a distraction from the ever present concern and sadness that we were all feeling. I proceeded to try to entertain him highlighting my experiences. I think the image of him lying in his hospital bed with IV and oxygen tubes and treatment masks everywhere giving me the look of approval and a thumbs-up will forever be engrained in my memory.
In the days that followed his health quickly declined. He developed severe pneumonia and his heart and kidneys began to fail. We continued to watch bedside, helplessly. Even when he had reached the point where he could barely open his eyes and most definitely couldn't speak, you could tell he was still so aware. He knew we were there. He felt us holding his hand and touching him.
I wasn't there when he finally took his last breath, but he was surrounded by his wife and kids and undoubtedly knew that in his life he had touched many and would be greatly missed. I'm sad for our loss as a family, of a man who was real and strong and funny. A man who delighted in his family. I will miss his quick wit and words of wisdom...."don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive". His appreciation of the female form... "heavy duty, woo-woo!". He was playful and matter of fact, an all around good man and I'm glad to have some really fantastic memories. I'm also glad that I was here when he passed. I guess it's true what they say, everything happens for a reason...apparently, the reason for our trip cross country being changed was so that we could be here when we needed to be.
Plans. They are a great idea in theory, aren't they? My plans were to travel west with my kids. We have a bucket list of things we want to see and I have friends out west we would be able to visit. For personal reasons we decided to modify our trip so instead we ventured north where we visited Mystic, Connecticut and Cape Cod, Massecheusetts on our way to Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Our route home included a fun filled visit with family in Middletown, Rhode Island. This trip lasted one full week after which we returned to home base to spend time with family and relax. We had been reluctant to shorten our travels to only a week as opposed to the 4-6 week trip we originally hoped to take, but ultimately I can say I am thankful to have been back home for this last two weeks.
My grandfather was hospitalized while we were on our tour of New England. He had been through many health issues and hardships in the last year and a half. Returning to Pennsylvania when we did allowed us the time to visit and support our family. "Mean'O", as I have affectionately called him since age 2, spent periods of time in ICU and eventually underwent surgery for a hernia repair. We feared he wouldn't make it through, that his heart, lungs and kidneys could not take yet another procedure. When he powered through it we became hopeful and excited that perhaps this time he would feel better than he had in a long while. I was happy to take opportunities to take my kids for a visit to lift his spirits and distract my mom from the worry I knew she was overwhelmed with. It's a neat feeling when you enter a room and see someone's eyes light up. It's a feeling of knowing you're loved and knowing you are in the right place in the right time. Some visits, he was able to breathe well enough to speak. All visits he was definitely aware of his surroundings.
On one of my visits, he called me to his side to ask how my dating was going. He was aware that I had decided it was time to date and that the whole idea was quite baffling to me as I have never done much dating. I tend to be a "serial monogammer" as I call it. He couldn't say much. He had little breath to work with. I laughed when he inquired knowing I had just gone on a few dates...I had shared this with him and the family as a means of comic relief if you will, a distraction from the ever present concern and sadness that we were all feeling. I proceeded to try to entertain him highlighting my experiences. I think the image of him lying in his hospital bed with IV and oxygen tubes and treatment masks everywhere giving me the look of approval and a thumbs-up will forever be engrained in my memory.
In the days that followed his health quickly declined. He developed severe pneumonia and his heart and kidneys began to fail. We continued to watch bedside, helplessly. Even when he had reached the point where he could barely open his eyes and most definitely couldn't speak, you could tell he was still so aware. He knew we were there. He felt us holding his hand and touching him.
I wasn't there when he finally took his last breath, but he was surrounded by his wife and kids and undoubtedly knew that in his life he had touched many and would be greatly missed. I'm sad for our loss as a family, of a man who was real and strong and funny. A man who delighted in his family. I will miss his quick wit and words of wisdom...."don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive". His appreciation of the female form... "heavy duty, woo-woo!". He was playful and matter of fact, an all around good man and I'm glad to have some really fantastic memories. I'm also glad that I was here when he passed. I guess it's true what they say, everything happens for a reason...apparently, the reason for our trip cross country being changed was so that we could be here when we needed to be.