With our daughter Kathryn’s wedding coming up on Friday evening, October 22nd, we packed up and left for a 3 and 1/2 day road trip from Jacksonville, FL to Tuscon, AZ. We didn’t, however, all ride out together. Based upon Erin’s and Brandon’s work and school schedules, they both flew out and back at various times. So Bruce, Lauren, Sean, Benjamin and I hit the road early on Saturday Oct. 16th.
We had a great time traveling out westward, stopping to explore San Antonio, Carlsbad Caverns, and a glimpse of Mexico over the Rio Grande.
When we arrived in Tuscon on Tuesday afternoon and finished hugs all around, Kathryn and all of her bridesmaids hit the road to Scottsdale for a two day bachelorette party … to replace the planned girls’ trip to New Orleans back in late August that was cancelled due to hurricane Ida. The groom took all his groomsmen up Mt Lemmon just an hour away for a little guy time. We went to our rental property to settle in …it was absolutely perfect and wonderfully spacious! Bruce’s brother and his wife plus my mother-in-law Sylvia arrived to stay with us, as did my brother Scott, our family Catholic priest who would be celebrating our bride and groom’s nuptial mass. Thursday evening was slated for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, which all went very smoothly until …
… until we arrived back at our rental home and my 82 yr old mother-in-law, while approaching the back door that entered the house from the garage, fell after failing to see the small step a few feet before the door and practically cartwheeled to the floor. I saw this happen from the passenger seat of our car because I’d not gotten out yet having just pulled in. Sylvia is always the first to get out and bolt quickly to whatever destination at which we’ve arrived! I was the first to arrive to her, and I could immediately see and very superficially feel that her left shoulder was completely dislocated. I not only knew from my medical training, but having had three dislocations myself. She expressed severe pain and I could see it clearly in her face. Well, long-story short: after she was transported via ambulance to a nearby hospital, she was not released, but told she would need surgery … full shoulder replacement surgery because she had not only dislocated the humerus from the socket, but had broken her humerus in 4 places and it was beyond repair. Fortunately, she was in the perfect medical center because it sat adjacent to the best orthopedic hospital in southern AZ.
The very next day was our daughter’s wedding, so Bruce’s brother Bert and his wife Vickie were designated Sylvia companions. One of the visiting cousins live streamed the wedding for Sylvia to view from her hospital bed.
The wedding was beautiful, emotional, and at times, hard to believe that it was happening after so planning, cancellations, then finally here. We are so proud of Kathryn and of Jonathan. Jon and Kathryn met in 2014, and have gone through so much together, and now made the commitment and vowed to love each other by celebrating the sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
I wished my own mom and stepdad could have been with us, but the distance was too much with my stepdad’s failing health. But aside from Sylvia’s accident, everything went smoothly and safely.
The evening after the wedding, we had a barbeque at our rental house for all, then it was time to start heading home for a northern route road trip this time. We rode up to Flagstaff and then on to the Grand Canyon, then into Colorado. We dropped Brandon off at the Flagstaff airport, and Erin off at the Denver airport, then the remaining five of us headed through Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and finally back home to Northeast Florida. All in all a very beautiful, memorable trip.
I will admit that arriving back home was FANTASTIC! Our pup Simon really missed us although he was in good hands with Brandon’s girlfriend Kat and Erin’s boyfriend Josh. Poor Simon turns 15 in November this year, and although we know he has slowly failing kidneys, he’s still loving his walks, eating like a horse and loves his family despite his failing eye site and hearing.
Thank you for reading this blog post … it’s a typical proud momma story. We now have one child of our six officially married! We thank God all went fairly flawless and that everyone made it home safely. Sylvia had her surgery and flew home under the care of Bert and Vickie. She’s doing well and healing slowly but surely, thank the Lord.