Amy's 'momentary trouble'

Well, we are back from our trip and easing back into reality once more. Although the hotel we stayed at did indeed have a computer kiosk in the main lobby for guests to use, I neither had the time, nor the inclination to blog while we were away. I did, however, keep some notes and journaled somewhat at night. The following has been taken from those notes and expanded.

May 23rd -

We had promised each other that we’d get in bed before 11:00pm because we needed to be up before 5:30am to eat breakfast and get everyone ready before leaving at 7:30am…That didn’t work out so well as we were bound and determined not to leave our house a mess, Amy made it to bed sometime around 11:30, but I didn’t hit the pillow until 12:30am. Have you ever seen that commercial where the family is going to go to Disney the next day and the kids won’t settle down and go to bed? The parents eventually get the kids to sleep and then the dad can’t sleep because he’s too excited? Well…that was me. I lay in bed and tossed and turned, my mind going 1000 miles an hour, going through my lists in my head. Did I remember everything? Did I have all of the registration papers, ID’s, cash, etc…I eventually drifted off.

May 24th -

It wasn’t too bad getting up this morning and getting the kids up was pretty easy as well. Excitement and anticipation filled everyone’s minds as we got dressed and ate breakfast. Bonnie picked us up at 7:30am as planned and we were on our way. Bonnie presented each of us with our own bag of goodies (treats, cookies, crackers a game and an envelope with some spending money and a personal note. Thank you Bonnie & Dave, you two are such a blessing!) The trip down to Chicago went quickly and we made excellent time. Amy & I both discovered that Bonnie is an excellent story teller as she had us thoroughly entranced with all sorts of tales. We arrived at Chicago’s Midway airport about 1 ½ hours before our scheduled departure time which left us time to check in and have a leisurely lunch. Our flight was rather uneventful, although it was fun to watch the Kids’ reactions (all handled it well) to flying in a large commercial jet. We landed in Orlando sometime around 5:20pm (est), retrieved our bags and met up with the transportation van I arranged to drive us back and forth from the airport to the hotel. It’s about 16 miles from the airport to our hotel, so all of us just took in the sights of Florida, the palm trees, the swamps and yes; I even spotted an alligator sunning itself on the banks of one of the swamps we drove past. By the time we made it out of the airport and to our hotel, it was past 6:30 and we were hungry and tired from our long day. We ate at a Ponderosa that was across the street from our hotel and came back to the hotel and just relaxed and stayed cool (it was about 94). We had asked the kids to list 4 or 5 shows/rides that they really wanted to see/do, so Amy & I discussed our game plan for the next day. There is a free shuttle bus that takes people to the different theme parks and the first bus would be at our hotel at 8:05am, the next bus would be by sometime around 9:15am. We were all so very tired from the day’s travels that we opted to take the second bus and sleep in a little longer.

This is Amy's story as seen and told by me - V

Just a quick note on Memorial Day. My mother has been gone a number of years now and still miss her. Sure, the deep pain and anguish I felt after her initial passing is no longer there but I miss her all the same. Especially now with what Amy is going through and facing...how I wish she were here. Some things would be different if she were still living...very different indeed and for that I am sad. If there is one thing that I have pulled from this trip, it is that nothing...Nothing except God himself, is more important than your family. Power, prestige, riches & fame all melt into utter meaninglessness when you look into your childs face and see the joy of making a dream come true. - V