Three Generations, One Vacation

My husband and I had just returned from a lovely Alaskan Cruise just a couple of weeks before. We were in our car alone and on our way to church when he said; "I have an idea and I want you to keep an open mind about it." Hmmm. I took a deep breath and I said okay. He then presented his plan for an extended fourth of July weekend.

His idea was a very last minute road trip to San Diego that would be our treat. It would include his 76 year old mother who was just officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's and our soon to be 22 year old daughter who had just unexpectedly jumped back into our empty nest after an emotional break up with her longtime boyfriend.

My first was a very caring and unselfish open minded thought that was all about him; Has he lost his mind? The level headed me; Could this really be a good combination? The frugal I; Should we be spending more money on vacations? Self centered me; My knees and legs (I had been suffering from severe pain in my knees and legs upon sitting too long or walking too long. Both of which were bad matches with a six hour road trip each way and for touring the shops and sites of San Diego.) But, as the women who was on her way to church to worship "He whose path we are to follow" took over after one brief disclaimer. "You will have to tolerate stopping as needed so I can exercise my legs and you need to be prepared for me not to being able to do some things." I then as graciously as I could limped on board with the idea!

After hours and hours online (which killed my knees) to find a very last minute and a perfect hotel suite for our needs, (The young broken hearted did not want to share a room alone with her newly diagnosed grandma.) an afternoon helping grandma pack, and a daughter that went emotionally back and forth hourly on whether she wanted to go or not.....  we were ALL finally on our way.

Our time together wasn't without it's challenges. For one, I did not know how challenging stairs would be to my health condition. The perfect hotel accommodations had a flight of stairs up to our room and another flight within the room that led to a private second bedroom and bath that was for my husband and I! The stairs were killers on my knees.

We had only planned the hotel room. We were going to wing it upon arrival. My husband is great at winging it with the help of his laptop.

As usual, with any family restaurant choices and menu choices were a challenge as were hotel thermostat settings. The TV thankfully was not an issue since we had three of them within our room. My physical condition worsened to terribly swollen and painful legs on day two.

Despite the challenges of the trip it was a really good idea. My mother-in-law who once loved going to the beach shared many beach memories from days long ago. Being there brought those cherished memories to her mind that one day soon will be forgotten.

As I sat there in my very pitiful and painful state, legs elevated, having taken every precaution to not add sunburned to my list of ailments, I found joy in the moments we were sharing where I could as three generations of family.

To add to my little pity party I was really missing 

my daughters hourglass shape that I once had!

I was thankful that my husband was able to have this carefree time 

with his mom and that we had the means to provide it for her.

I especially loved seeing the three generations together.

Without this last minute whopper of an idea

that my husband had I would have never seen nor

captured this beautiful and 

much needed supportive embrace between

 two generations of women.