Patrick had a big weekend planned. We drove in Thursday night to meet him for dinner and then Friday we met for lunch and went to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was awesome! I highly recommend it to anyone in the area looking for a way to kill a few hours. I was expecting lots of different aquariums but it is really like a rain forest over several stories that you walk through. Lots of birds, reptiles, and giant fish. Mom was constantly afraid of the animals getting her, sometimes I think its a bit of an act, but she loved it as did Everett. The coolest part to me, aside from being face to face with an anaconda was the Manatee swimming in the pond. You see the pond from the very top and can see the backs of all these giant fish but it's not until you get to the underground part that you see the manatee. So cool! Anyway after that Everett needed a nap and without having to go back to the hotel we decided to go to the Perot Natural History Museum so I could push him around and let him nap that way. After already walking around quite a bit we were a little tired and I hate to say didn't quite get in to the Perot like I would have wanted. We did all enjoy the dinosaur exhibit but after that Mom was pretty much ready to go. We had a great evening waiting out a massive storm at Taren's house eating Pizza with Patrick and Taren watching the Mav's playoff game. Saturday morning Mom, Everett and I got out to do a little shopping around before meeting Patrick, Taren and her parents in downtown Ft. Worth for lunch.
Patrick and Taren have been dating for a little over a year now and they are sure they are "the ones" for one another. We couldn't be more happy with his pick but more on that another time. Taren's Mom, Emily, attended ACU the same year that Mom did and knew of her as well as some of the other family. I am so glad that someone in Taren's family knew of Mom before her disease, who knew somewhat of her personality as it truly was, of her vivacious life! Mom was very quiet throughout lunch as she tends to be in new settings. Everett was clinging to me for dear life, I tried to pass him off to her a few times because she really comes to life when she is with him but he was not having it. Our plan was to go to the Ft. Worth Zoo after lunch and Taren's Mom was going to come with us. We got really lucky and got both of her parent's to come. It was a great afternoon spent with people who are so important to Patrick and looking at God's humor in the creation of animals. Topping our night off with Cheesecake Factory it was a great weekend trip.
By Saturday night though I was exhausted and worn down. Everett had decided to absolutely HATE the hotel and not let me put him down much less out of his sight while in the hotel room. This was incredibly difficult as Mom's disease makes her more confused in the mornings and evenings needing lots of extra help. After two days already of this, Everett screaming crying when I put him down and Mom getting anxious and angry I lost it a little bit. We were driving home from dinner with Finding Nemo on in the car and Mom asked if it was OK for Everett to watch this show. My mind flashed back to trips to Target or Best Buy with her hunting down the copies of whatever Disney movie had just been "released from the vault to never be released again." She was desperate to get copies of everything for her future grandchildren. I scoured her closet before we left and was so grateful for her diligence and time in hunting so that Everett could watch these. And now she was asking if it was "OK" for him to watch them. I lost it on the highway navigating my way home. She became immediately worried and I blamed it on missing Drew. As we got back to the hotel and I began the difficult task of getting them ready for bed and packing up our belongings. As Everett cried and Mom paced I began to lose it again. She was concerned and I told her I just missed her. That I missed my Mom and needed her. She said I know and began to cry to. She came over and wrapped her arms around me, very unusual for her, and told me she loved me. I felt a little touch on my arms and raised my head to see Everett beaming up at me hugging me too and giving me sugars. It was in that sweet little moment that I pulled myself together and knew that we would all make it out alive. A little dramatic maybe but for a time I really wasn't so sure. Mom told me "that I would see him soon" and I realized she was still thinking that I was missing Drew. I thought for a moment that she was really with me and knew what I was talking about but even so that moment meant to much to me!
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