Charlotte's Journey: Vacation

Friday, June 17, 2011

Vacation

Ok, so the school girls are out of school and I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to "try" and get our family on vacation as soon as possible. I found a nice place at Ocean Lakes and off to the beach we went. The first week out of school and at the beach, what a way to start summer vacation. I had some reservations about going to the beach with Charlotte, Dr. Horne gave me a 30 minute sun exposure limit and I thought what would be the use in going. Well it turns out that those 30 minutes was the best 30 minutes of every day. Charlotte absolutely LOVED the beach, the feel of the sand on her feet and hands and the waves rolling in over her legs.

Every time Charlotte looked out into the ocean and saw her sisters playing, she would wave and squeal and scream like she wanted on her boogie board. A friend of mine was also down with her two children and her son had dug a hole for Charlotte to play in. Charlotte realized while playing in the hole that there was stuff in the sand......needless to say, as close as I was sitting to her, I didn't get to her in time to stop her from eating a fist full of sand! I panicked, but it only took her a minute to realize it wasn't something that she wanted to do again! When we were at the pool, she liked playing with the balls that sprayed water. Charlotte could spray herself and love it, but if another child came running up splashing her in the face, she didn't like that.

Playing outside at the beach and pool definitely took its toll on her. Charlotte would usually be asleep on the ride back to the house, but one afternoon, she feel asleep at the pool and napped on a table for a while. Now you know that was good sleep.... nice breeze blowing and snoozing by the pool.

Usually the heat bothers Charlotte, but it didn't matter how hot she was, she begged to go outside and play. So, usually in the late afternoon, I would take her out and let her roam and search and discover new things in life. The pond beside the house usually had 2 geese and 5 gosling's, and Charlotte would just talk away like they knew exactly what she was saying. Seeing Charlotte around animals, I can see she has a love for them. Every day we usually went for a ride on the golf cart, Charlotte wanted to drive and would get extremely mad when we wouldn't let her. One night, we drove to Barefoot's landing and walked around. The girls had their faces painted and we rode the Merry Go Round.

I must say that this vacation turned out to be GREAT! I think it was something our family definitely needed. Seems like it's hard to keep a good thing going though. On Friday evening Charlotte woke from her nap burning hot! I panicked of course and straight to the drug store for some Tylenol. With a fever of 102.4 I began wishing we were home so that I could call the Dr. Saturday, I medicated Charlotte and we made it back to the beach house around 8p.m. I called the phone nurse and she referred me to the Evening Clinic. Let me just say that the Evening Clinic was not a good experience. Seems Charlotte had an ear infection, or so the Dr. thought. Tuesday I took Charlotte to see Dr. Donna because she still didn't seem to be herself. Seems somehow Charlotte and Emma and Lily have the hand, foot, and mouth virus which causes very painful blisters and high fevers. So, with nothing to treat this virus with, its just a wait it out and tend to 3 little girls who are VERY whinny!

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Heart Poem

It's a beautiful day up in heaven. Jesus is rounding up his tiniest angels, to go live on earth, and be born. One of the sweetest angels says to Jesus "I don't want to leave, I like it here, and I will miss you". He reassures the scared little angel that everything will be okay, and that he is just going for a visit. He is still not swayed on this idea. So Jesus kneels down, and says, "How about if you leave half of your heart here with me and take the other half with you, will that be okay?" The angel smiles and says, "I guess that will work". But the little angel is still a little scared. He asks,"Will I be okay with only half of my heart?" Jesus replies,"Of course you will, I have other angels there that will help out, and you will be fine." Then Jesus gives the angel more details about his plan. He says "When you are born, your mommy will be scared, so you have to be strong, and when you feel weak just remember that I have the other half of your heart". "Enjoy your time with your family, play and laugh everyday." "And when its time to come back to heaven, I will make your heart whole again. Always remember that you are not broken, just torn between two loves."

THE CHOSEN MOTHERS BY ERMA BOMBECK

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressure, and a couple by habit. Did you ever wonder how mothes of children with life threatening illnesses are chosen?

Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting His instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs His angels to make notes in a giant ledger. "Armstrog, Beth, son, patron saint Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, patron saint Cecilia. Rutledge, Carrie, twins, patron saint Gerard."

Finally, He passes a name to an angel and says, "Give her a child with cancer." The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy." "Exactly" smiles God, "Could I give a child with cancer a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."

"But, does she have patience?" asks the angel. "I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she will handle it." "I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has it's own world. She has to make it live in her world and that's not going to be easy."

"But, Lord, I don't think she believes in you. "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness." The angel gasps- "Selfishness? is that a virtue?"

God nods. "If she can't seperate herself from the child occasionally. she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take anything her child does for granted, She will never consider a single step ordinary. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see.... ignorance, cruelty, prejudice... and allow her to rise above them. "She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing My work as surely as if she is here by My side." "And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel. His pen poised in mid-air. God smiles, "A mirror will suffice."