The night before we boarded the airplane I had all my documentation in place (or so I thought) I have all of my children's social security numbers and birth certificates placed together with my green card and I had their dad's letter stating it would be fine for his children to cross the border. When I opened my little blue folder I noticed that Abbey's birth certificate was missing. Immediately my mind when back to the summer when I remembered I needed to present it to her soccer coach to prove her age. I did not have time to look for it so I turned to the kids and said.."oh well, let's hope this works" We arrived in Salt Lake and stayed at a hotel, we were all excited so sleep was not on our minds and I was stressed about crossing the border with a child's birth certificate missing. All night long I had dreams that I would not get across the border and that I should have looked in the back of my vehicle because that is where I placed it. We woke up and got ready for our adventure and just before the shuttle left for the airport I looked for her certificate in the back of my car...there it was, I knew at that moment it was an answer to my prayers. At that very moment abbey complained that her foot was hurting and I grabbed the first aid kit out of the back of the car at the same time and put a dressing on her foot. The shuttle was getting ready to leave so I raced out to my vehicle to put it back in the back of my car (little did I know I placed the birth certificate in the first aid kit). If you don't know me and you are reading this, it may seem like a completely air-headed thing to do, however, stress+being crazy busy='s significant memory loss for me every single time...
The plane ride there was completely uneventful which is a miracle in and of itself. There were no delays and we landed on time. The roads were clear for travelling. My dear friend Maureen picked us up and we met my mom, sister Debbie, and my friend Cindy at Maureen's house.
My parents live in Brighton which is a small tourist town right on the shore of Lake Ontario. I grew up 4km from a huge sandy beach and my parents still live in the same house. The smells are familiar and that house gives complete comfort when you walk in the front door.
The first night Debbie's kids and husband Daryl, came over to my parent's house to visit. My dad looked very weak and he was exhausted. He tried like crazy to be funny and crack jokes but his tough exterior no longer exists. He is a 66 year old man inside of a 95 year old man's body.
The most amazing thing to me was watching my mom in action. She has never been to nursing school in fact she dropped out of school when she was very young to help support her family. She fed my dad high protein foods and checked his B/P daily. She made him put his own socks on and get up and down quite frequently to prevent muscle wasting. She is amazing and taught me that the only qualifications you need to have to be a nurse is to care about the person you are taking care of.
So the first day we did not plan to do very much at all. We were tired and the object of this trip was to give my mom some relief and create some memories with my dad that my kids would remember forever. Both of my parents speak with a very strong Irish accent and sometimes it is hard for my kids to understand what they are saying. I love to watch my parents interact with my kids, there is nothing that makes me happier than that. Aaron came running upstairs one morning as I was getting ready with a huge grin on his face and said "I was just eating cereal with grandma and she turned to me and said, Aaron, I love you guys so much" My parents have never had a ton of money, but they have huge hearts that love many many people.
Ok, I am tired and I really need to get to bed, I will continue this blog another day, hopefully soon so that my memories are still fresh in my mind.
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