I left home less than 72 hrs. ago with both kiddos in tow (like it was possible to find someone to watch them with less than 4 hours of notice). Here’s a quick complainer’s summary of the trip.
The frustrating
Hours gone from home ……………………………………………………70
Hours spent in a vehicle while gone…………………………………….20
Hours spent in a vehicle listening to 1 or both children crying…….5
Number of nights my kids got to bed 2 or more hours late……….3
Number of meals eaten early or late due to travel and services….4
Number of nights this weekend Daddy will be “on duty”………….3
just kidding!
And the good
Number of family members I hadn’t seen in probably 5 years……10
Number of nights the baby slept through the night……………………3
Number of things forgotten at home in my rush………………….just 1
Number of my kids that didn’t question what was going on………..2
(How in the world do you explain something like this about a person he’s
never met when he has no previous experience of a person dying???)
Weeks of Q inserts I needed and was able to get from Mom…….3
Tanks of gas to get to my parent’s house………………………………..1
(we were running on fumes I tell ya)
It was a very hard and difficult trip to make. My parents both come from larger families, with most of their siblings still living within a half hour of the town they grew up in (9 hr trip from me). This is the first of their siblings to pass away in the past 40 years. I’m sure this is just the beginning of unexpected trips that direction. Hopefully my husband will be able to travel with us next time. Thanks for all your prayers and encouraging messages, comments, and e-mails. I was able to get online briefly a few times (even used a smart phone for the first time) to keep on top of what was going on. Such simple words all were a great source of comfort to me. It’s amazing how much you can lift up a person that you’ve never met. 
Before I could get this posted, I had e-mails and phone calls that an uncle from my Dad’s side of the family is now in the hospital with masses on his lungs, pancreas, and adrenal glands. I need one of the Jetson’s cars. Or maybe one of Scotty’s beams…….