Vacation Update: Part 1

What a vacation! I loved it! Given that there was almost a week of it, as well as 2 parts, I decided to tell my story in increments.

First of all, here is a great picture of my Aunt Loretta. I took this right before I left.

So everyone knows the story of how I came about surprising my family. Well, I forgot to include another key component: My 2nd cousin Kaelyn. Ahem

You see, a few weeks prior to my trip, I emailed her for the first time. My motive was pure - to thank her for all of her help & love towards my aunt during this difficult time. Kaelyn not only came down with her parents when the stroke happened, but she returned for a 3-week stay in May.

Well, I had tried to establish how long her mom (Julie) would be visiting Loretta and Jerry during my trip. It turned out great as she told me her mom was staying for a few weeks. So "Thanks," Kaelyn!

Ok, after I shocked everyone, Lori and Stacey took me out to their new house they are building. It's amazing... beautiful, lots of amenities, and it sits right on a small lake with a dock. They're even adding a jacuzzi and fire pit! Lori had a hard time (A VERY HARD TIME) accepting me staying in a hotel while I was there... so she made certain to point out "The Bro Room" for my future visits.

On Wednesday I came over to the house and hung out with Julie and Loretta all day. Christie and her kids came over, too. It was great... just spending the day talking, catching up, and watching how much my aunt has progressed!

Later that day, we met up with Jerry and went to see "Get Smart." I'd probably give it a "B" rating. It was funny, and it was even better watching my aunt and uncle laugh so much! Although, the theater had seen better days. We had some sound issues...

That night I went with Stacey and Lori out to Larry's. For those that know me, this is the place I go each spring to eat my boiled crawfish! Oh baby... let's just say we put the hurt on them! We each ordered 4 lbs. To say it was fantastic wouldn't do justice to how good it was...

Thursday I checked out of my hotel and headed back over to my aunt's house. Would you believe she was making a FULL breakfast for us? She made homemade biscuits, eggs, bacon, blueberry muffins... it was awesome! That was HUGE for her recovery! We were so proud of her. She worked so hard to get to that point, and I know she'll just continue to get better and better!

One interesting moment happened. Kaelyn called after we had finished our breakfast wanting to speak with her mom. She was in Chicago visiting friends. While Julie was out of the room, Loretta and I had a chat. I asked her how she was really doing, and she told me she guesses she's doing ok. I asked her if she worried about anything, and she said no. I specifically asked if she worried about a specific family member. She said she didn't... then said, "Maybe I should, but I don't think about things like that." She then said, "I have a hard time remembering recent things. I'm afraid I won't remember Julie being here after she leaves. That's the one thing that bothers me about all of this."

It made me sad... so I said a quick prayer right there that she'd remember Julie's visit and how much her family loves her.