A few days ago, after weeks of tantalizing her with the idea of it, Babcia suddenly decided that yes, she was coming to Florida. She made up her mind Wednesday night, and on Friday night I was picking her up at the airport! I am so happy to have her here with me and to take her on a few adventures in the coming week. No matter how old you get, there’s something comforting about having your mama near. She needs a little help with the logistics of it, but she had a good flight and is now safe and sound here with me.

Babcia apparently had a good flight. She was seated in the front row between two men, which she has mentioned to me several times now. One, she said, was not very talkative. The other was a young man coming to Florida to do some diving and fishing. He was 21 years old. She talked to him quite a bit, and when they landed he helped her to get her things together. “He was very nice and cute”, she said, “but too young for you.” She’s always looking out for me.

Babcia was wheeled out to me by a young man at the airport, and we were off to baggage claim to retrieve her bag and her walker. I’d told him I’d need help getting her and her things to the curb so I could pull the car around and get her. He agreed to help, so we made a quick stop by the restroom, but when we came out he was gone. So we made our way to the winding belt as I formulated a plan for how I was going to push Babcia, pull her suitcase, and carry her walker all at the same time. We got everything together and I was struggling to push the wheelchair with one foot while pulling the luggage and the walker behind me. We were moving inches at a time, so I figured we’d be at the curb by morning. All of a sudden, a young lady (another passenger) walked up to us. She said, “Let me take this for you, where are you going?”, as she reached out to take the walker from me which left me with a hand free to push the chair. I told her we were headed to the curb out front and we were off. She got us there, smiled and said goodbye. Thank God for the kindness of strangers. I got the car and we headed home.

We spent the first day getting pampered with pedicures, and then had a delicious lunch at Cheesecake Factory. Afterward it was time to rest, so we went home and put on Babcia’s favorite movie, Dr. Zhivago. She managed to stay awake and watch the entire film; it was me who fell asleep on the couch. I was worried about her having strength and stamina throughout the day, but she ended up wearing me out and not the other way around. Evening brought dinner, a nice walk, and a game of cards. Of course, she won. She always wins. She cheats. (Okay not really, but we’ve all been saying that for years so far be it from me to be the first to admit that she does not cheat and is just in fact better at cards than the rest of us.) It was a good day, despite the fact that none of the lottery tickets we picked up were winners. We were both hoping to have an extended vacation as winners.

What will today bring? A little shopping and then who knows. We’ll spend the week doing things together. Of course we will go to the beach at some point. Maybe some pool time. Maybe souvenir shopping. Then we will make the drive back to West Virginia together and I’ll spend a week there before heading back to Florida. We are just happy to have the time together. Whether we are doing something or doing nothing, we will be together. And that is the best vacation I could ask for this summer.