visit

Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.

~Ambrose Bierce
1 ½ years ago, I got a phone call that shocked me. My mom called to say she wanted to come for a visit. That may not seem like a big deal but she had not been to my neck of the woods in over 20 years. Her health has never been great making it tough to travel but she also is not a big fan of flying. Every year we would do the same dance. I would call and invite her to Christmas and she would say, “I don’t feel well enough to travel.” I honestly thought I would never see her in Pennsylvania. Two or three times a year I would travel to AZ to spend time with her. She was always very gracious, paying for my trip but it wasn’t the same as having her here. So this call was monumental….and quite the logistical challenge.
I had told her if she ever wanted to come I would fly out to AZ, get her, bring her back to PA, then fly her back afterward. So, the night she called, I immediately made the reservations….I didn’t want her to change her mind!
I flew out in August. I spent one day there and then we began our travel back to PA. Our adventure began. I got her to the rental car return in AZ and she fell off a curb hitting her leg on the bus for the terminal. Great start, Deb. We got to the terminal, checked in our luggage and got her wheelchair. Things went well through security. We were able to board first – because we had a wheelchair – and because she flew us back first class. Sweet. :0)
Once seated, we waited for the rest of the passengers to board. She was bit impatient, asking when we were going to take off. At one point she turned to me and said, “I think we are moving”. I looked out and said, ‘No mom – it’s the taxiway moving.’ Finally the plane did begin move. I heard something, looked over and saw her closing her eyes tightly, had her nose plugged and was blowing out of her mouth like a fish! I said “What are you doing?” in that hushed tone you use with little children who are beginning to misbehave. She stopped and said her doctor had told her to do this so her ears wouldn’t hurt. I explained that she might want to try that when we actually in the air and ready to land…that blowing air out like a fish would not really benefit her when we were still taxi-ing on the tarmac. It took some convincing but she finally stopped…thank goodness! We laughed and laughed about that all the way home.
Little did I know that laughter would be such a part of our relationship. In the midst of some pretty difficult things, we continue to laugh. It has been an unexpected gift.
Oh yeah…as soon as the pilot said we had begun our descent into Baltimore, she began the eye closing, nose pinching, fish breathing until we landed and guess what? Her ears didn’t hurt and thank goodness, she didn’t hyperventilate either.
May you laugh today.
Grace and peace,
Deb