Wee Hour Arrival

The night really didn’t end yesterday. We were expecting our visitor from the east aka “mom/grandma” and everyone were very excited. As I returned home from the GA meeting my cell phone rang and I looked it to notice that is was indeed “mom/grandma”. I thought to myself this couldn’t be good and as I answered I was looking for that ray of good news. No it wasn’t good news my mom had called to tell me her connecting flight in Denver was running 2 hours late and there wasn’t much news if this time allotment was indeed accurate. I could hear the frustration in my mother’s voice that always seems to have a great deal of angst when she travels because of these moments but as I reminded her before she departed all those things are out of her control.

Anyhow my mother was trying to figure out if there was an alternative flight to a different airport that would get her in prior to the wee hours of the morning. I gave her a rundown of the airports in our general vicinity and she tried to get on those flights to no avail. It appears the airline industry is running at capacity and finding empty seats was at a premium. There weren’t any seats open on any of those flights so my mother resided herself to wait out the delay. This pushed her arrival time into the wee hours of the morning and put a little damper on whether the children would accompany me to the airport. My son was very funny because he kept saying that he was going to make it but as the hours wore on he wore down! There wasn’t any doubt in my mind that my daughter wasn’t going to make it because she stays up until the wee hours so this wouldn’t be difficult for her.

I tried to get in a nap prior to going to the airport but I just really rested my eyes as did my daughter. My son was fast asleep and there was no waking him up nor did I want to wake him up. My daughter was ready to go and we set out to the airport in the wee hours of the morning. It was very cold as we headed out and it did feel a great deal like winter. The drive was very smooth because at this hour there wasn’t any traffic. I was surprised to see cars on the road but it would have been more eerie if there weren’t any cars at all.

My daughter was in the back seat content with watching a movie of her choice and true to form she did not fall asleep. I can’t remember the last time my daughter fell asleep in the car and she is so much like me when I was a child. I remember making those trips from New Jersey to Florida during our summer vacation and I along with my Dad would be the only ones awake in the car as the rest of the family was fast asleep. I don’t know what it was for me back then but I think I felt an obligation to stay up with my Dad as he drove since I didn’t want to miss anything. My daughter was indeed watching the movie but she did ask a few questions on the drive to the airport. She was looking forward to seeing her grandmother and I too was looking forward to seeing her as well.

We pulled into the airport and were a few minutes early so we had to wait. My daughter seemed concerned about where I was waiting and kept asking when we could move up. I assured her we were alright and a few minutes later grandma emerged from the terminal with bags in hand. Grandma looked great for having spent the last 12 hours traveling and spending 4 of those hours in the Denver airport. Upon me taking the bags Grandma hopped into the backseat to be near her granddaughter for the trip to our house. The trip home went well and grandma brought my daughter a surprise some fresh bread from her favorite restaurant in New Jersey. My daughter was very excited about the bread and she was certainly very excited to see grandma.

My daughter did get tired on the drive home and it was certainly very late or was it very early??? Whatever the case I too was a bit tired and ready to hit the sack when I got home. We got grandma home to our house safe and sound and the luggage was unpacked. We then all headed to our respective bedrooms for some sleep. Strangely enough I didn’t fall asleep right away and I just lay in bed waiting to fall asleep. Somewhere along the way I did fall asleep but I thought how great it was to have my mom here for a visit. We have a fun filled week planned and I am taking a few days off to take part in those fun filled festivities. Yes, we will be headed off to Disneyland tomorrow for the next two days and everyone is looking forward to that trip. The children are at the right age where they can go on all the rides for the first time in their lives and my daughter is the “roller coaster queen” and has her eye set on a few of those roller coasters. This is wonderful to think I have the opportunity to experience these incredible moments all thanks to recovery, WOW!!!