Winter Season of Life and Love in Palm Springs

This past week we had the pleasure of escorting my mom and step dad 

on a vacation to Palm Springs.

We landed around the time President Obama made his appearance at the same airport

 for President's Day and saw the procession of police cars whisking him away.

With mom nearing 80 and Abe a bit more, we had figured out that, 

as good as a vacation sounded, it was daunting, when thinking of air travel, 

renting a car, getting around a large city they have never visited etc.

So we flew down with them, showed them around,
got them settled into a routine and left.

The pool was a favorite place to visit and I had to laugh at how we were the young ones

when I know that next time we go with our kids we will be the old ones.

Mom takes swimming serious. 

She learned to swim close to the time she became a grandma and loves it.

It was cute to see how they take care of each other. 

I noted that the main reason they hold hands when they walk is for support. 

She has a tendency not to look where she is going and he has a bad knee. 

Maybe it is a good reason to keep holding hands.

My H enjoyed calling her Erika von Trapp. 

Even though I would not be caught dead in a swim cap and goggles, there is something I really like about this photo. My mom's beauty and no pretense kind of character cannot be hidden. Her innocent comments have inspired many a laugh within the family but, at the same time, I noticed on this trip that others are drawn to her as well. She hands out tracts. She talks to strangers and while I am already down to aisle or headed to the door, thinking we are done, she is still finding something to ask or something say to someone.  She has an interest, care and concern for others that is hard to resist.

Abe, whom my H fondly likes to call, father Abraham, is our in house celebrity that people smile at for other reasons. He and his beloved first wife were good friends of the family and shared the property with my parents on Hatzic Island. When Julene was still very little, she saw a magazine with Billy Graham pictured on the front cover and said, "That man lives at Hatzic."

We enjoyed listening to his stories which he is able to recite one after the other. I smile at his little laugh just before he is going to give us the punch line. One of my favorite stories one morning had to do with a Christmas tree. He told us of how they had just moved into a new house where they had planted a nice evergreen in the front yard when, one day just before Christmas, it was sawed off by an anonymous neighbor or passerby. All that was left was a stump which, in later years, grew them two trees.

We cooked breakfast and lunch together and enjoyed a few nice dinners out. 

It was not so bad having to wait outside at the Olive Garden on a warm evening. 

An interesting dimension came came into view

as we had time to take a drive or just sit and talk.

When we planned this trip, we thought that we were doing our parents a favor, 

but the truth that came clear to me was that the favor belonged to us.  

I'm thankful we did not wait for this kind of visit until it meant
sitting at a lonely hospital bedside.

This small get-a-away will for always be a precious memory.