Livin' Part of Life

Finally taking a moment to post since we finished our trip over a week ago. We are home safely, and thanks for those who checked on us when our posting stopped abruptly. We hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with those that you love most. Technically, it’s Rick’s “turn” to post, but I don’t know that he has yet processed everything enough to put it into words. So, here we go…

Myrtle Beach was a special time for a few reasons

1. The beach. As mentioned in our earlier post, there is nothing like a good long walk on the beach. We were grateful to do this a few times, and even had dinner with friends overlooking it. And the sunrises were amazing!!
2. Sharing memories. Rick was able to take me to a few places that he had been over the years. Finn McCools is a cute little irish place off the beach that he used to go to with his parents and sister growing up. Not quite the bustling place at 3pm on a weekday in November, but was fun to see. Unfortunately, Ocean Annie’s beach bar wasn’t open at all because of the cool/windy weather, but I was glad to see it after all of the stories. Plus I got to see the places that they all had stayed over the years, right along the beach. I’ve seen so many pictures, now I have seen it live; and Rick got to relive some of that. We enjoyed calling his mom each day to tell her about what we have seen, and have them share their stories from the past.
3. Friends. One of my dearest Cleveland Clinic friends, Deb, moved to Myrtle earlier this year. I was so glad that we got to spend time with her and Tony. We got to see their lovely 55+ community, complete with a golf cart ride, a tour of the amenities and the expansive types of housing available. Best of all, we had dinner at the “ocean club” which was great food, cocktails and friendship. I also got to see a friend I knew from my HFMA involvement for breakfast. Rick said “you pretty much know someone everywhere we go” – I guess that’s what 29 years at a place like Cleveland Clinic will do, since many of my colleagues have moved to wonderful places, and I enjoy the opportunity to catch up.
4. Relaxation. This being the last major leg of our trip, we wanted time to relax. We knew that coming home we had lots of house stuff ahead of us, plus the start of the busy holiday season. So being able to take a day to just relax was wonderful. It felt like “vacation”.
5. Celebration!!! We closed on the sale of our Avon condo. It couldn’t have gone any more smoothly (except for having to get a notary in South Carolina). We are really grateful to have made such a fast transition to our new home.

But, on our last evening we got a call that we never want to get. We found out that his mom had fallen and was taken via squad to the local hospital. We are grateful that Rick’s nephew was with her, doing all the right things; and that Rick’s sister was able to be with her as they got her stabilized and situated. Ultimately, she was admitted for 3 days and had surgery to repair her nose and lip, which were damaged when she passed out. While we still don’t know the cause, it is likely related to her heart condition and we’re glad that it was able to be “easily” repaired.

So given that news, we had a quick change in our plans. We did the super long drive straight back from Myrtle Beach to Bay Village. (Wes and Erin, I still don’t know how you do it!) Mid-day, we made a quick stop at the campground we had intended to stay at the last night (beautiful, overlooking Pilot Mountain in NC); we needed this in order to get ourselves ready for winterizing the RV, and then drove straight through. Poor Rick got up the next morning early to drive to the hospital in Pittsburgh; you know how it is when you just want to be there, even if others can do it. Rick and I are so alike in that regard. We are caregivers. We’re glad that he was able to spend a couple of days with her and get her settled at home after surgery. We were also able to get back up there to celebrate Thanksgiving as planned, and we are even more grateful for it given all that has happened in the past couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, we have also unpacked Livvy, finished the primary winterizing tasks and even found space in our downsized home to store all of the many things that shouldn’t be outside all winter long. We still have more to do, but were ready enough for this cold snap that we are having. We plan to bring Livvy back home when it does warm up a bit to get everything finished up since we don’t intend to be back out on the road in Livvy until Easter. We are going to enjoy being in our new home this winter!!

We’ve been chatting about a year end recap post on all of the things that we’ve learned in Livvy this year. I’m sure that it will come together over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I hope that you’re enjoying the start to the holiday season. Treasure time with those who mean the most to you!!