Today marks 10 years since my Dad died of colon cancer. Yes, it was just a few days after 9/11 - and I was shocked and saddened about all that, but was in a fog because my own father was in hospice care. After going through treatments off and on for a couple of years, I finally accepted the fact that he was better off going home. But I also remember when he died one of my biggest regrets was that my children would miss out on having their Poppi. I still feel that way. He was a great guy, a Christian servant, a math professor at his beloved Oklahoma Christian, loving husband, interested father, fun grandpa, the family peacemaker. Thankfully, I have many great memories of him!
I thought I'd tell you a little story about THE TRIP THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. My Dad, the math professor and my mother had been accepted as teacher/sponsors for one of the semesters abroad program. They prepared to go on what is known as the PacRim tour, that visits many countries including China, Japan, and Australia. They were in meetings and read about it and bought special clothing and went to events to get to know students who were also going. It was a pretty big deal. My husband and I were very excited too, and begin to hatch a plan to meet them on Thanksgiving break in Australia. We saved money, read books about Australia, got all 3 kids passports and tried to decide on whether to visit the Great Barrier Reef or Uluru. Well, the big ugly C returned, the trip was off for them, and off for us. It was a big disappointment for all of us, but we couldn't be mad about it. We had much bigger issues to worry about.
We had saved up quite a sum over the past year for the trip, so now what were we going to do with that money? Just a few days before Christmas, I had an idea. I'm so thankful my husband went with it! I had heard of the Disney Land/Sea vacation: 4 days in the Disney parks/3 days on the Disney cruise ship. We did a little research and decided to give our whole family, including my sister and her family a Spring Break trip to Disney. I hurriedly printed off home-made gift certificates to open up on Christmas morning. Everyone was elated! Usually we enjoy several trips to the lake together during the summer, but we had never taken this big a trip with all 11 of us!
We got trip insurance just in case. My Dad was on pain medication and was weak, but using a wheelchair provided by Disney, he enjoyed it thoroughly. We had a great time together, sometimes breaking up into smaller groups, but always meeting up at dinner time. The cruise part was a welcome rest from park hopping, but of course, fantastic with the Disney touch and all the great entertainment and food!
So just a little nudge for you in case something in your life didn't go the way you planned. MAKE A NEW PLAN. Or maybe your parents are having aging issues. Do something special with them. I'm really thankful my husband was willing to share with the extended family on this trip. Because six months later, my Dad was gone.
One more thing, a story on this pic: My sister and I did plan for our families to wear certain colors on the days we were in the parks. Not just to match, but it really does help you find your group! Our last morning there, I wanted to take a family picture and we found this beautiful spot at our resort. The geraniums were already blooming! We just asked a passerby to take the picture for us. It was my favorite picture of the whole trip! I ended up making 8 x 10's for everyone. So glad we did.
We haven't made it to Australia yet, but we don't regret for one moment the time we spent together on the Disney Land/Sea Adventure!
8 comments:
Both of those are on my list of places I'd like to vacation, I'm sure the disney cruise will happen before Austrailia! The ice cream maker is going to help my waistline expand in a hurry, like I currently need help with that!
I love this story! I didn't know all of the details about it....just remember that you didn't get to go to Australia. What a special memory with that family trip. Your dad was such a sweet man.
What a great way to shift your course in a positive way! I need this reminder often as my plans seem to always get derailed. Slowly I am learning to shift my course in a more positive way. You sharing this helps me so much! Love you!
I'm so glad that you and your kids have the great memories of that trip with your dad.
Bill had hoped to teach at OC with your dad.
I love this story. Thanks for sharing! We have had two trips to Brazil planned that were not meant to be. We are thinking third times the charm...
That really is a fantastic story. And even though it's been 10 years, I'm sorry for the loss. I still miss my grandparents who passed about 19 and 20 years ago, and they were not the people who raised me! So... stupid question: What's your dad's name?
What a wonderful gift to your family this trip was! Memories like that are priceless. I read this post twice and got teary eyed both times. I wish my extended family got together more often. Maybe I need to do more to try to make it happen. Reading everyone's comments made me think of the new Priscilla Shirer Bible study called Jonah, Life Interrupted. We are going to be getting that for next year. We all have interruptions...how we handle them is the key. Thanks for sharing a great example!
This is a great post. Thanks for sharing. We did similar trips with extended family a couple of times and they are real highlights for the family that we still talk about today. We even have group pictures with Mickey in the middle.
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