Boy, as I know from the past, a lot can change in the blink of an eye. You would think that I should be used to this by now. Thankfully, my health seems to be okay. Hubby and I left on February 7 to go visit my father-in-law for a couple of weeks. This was not a holiday of sorts but more checking up on him. Over the years, he has teased me in February when the flowers are budding where he lived and we were in the midst of heavy winter snow. We knew his health was failing but it was more than we thought. We had a couple of good days with him and enjoyed some alert time. I was able to tease him about the 5 cm of snow that fell while we were there in the midst of a snow storm. He continued to tease me and say this was abnormal weather for the region, which it was. My father-in-law encouraged my Hubby to take me to a 5 star resort on the coast where the waves are good for surfing. Due to the unusual winter storms hitting the area, we had to delay our brief 3 day sojourn by a day. The roads were closed through the mountains. So off we went on the 13th to travel 4 1/2 hours to the resort. The scenery through the mountainous terrain and roads were breathtaking. I saw a fallow deer up to her belly in snow trying to reach some leaves on a branch just out of her reach. Poor little thing! Anyway, we stopped in a small town for lunch.
While we were just finishing up our lunch, Hubby's cell phone rang. I could hear our daughter hysterical on the other end. Here I am a 4-5 hour flight away from home and we find out that her apartment burned to the ground. It was burning and the firefighters were battling the flames as she called us. She lost everything. I was totally torn! I needed to be here to help Hubby and his father but I also needed to be back home to support my daughter. I couldn't be in both places at the same time. So we supported her with technology and texting back and forth. We answered phone calls and gave reassurance. We offered to help replace some of her things. We referred her to family that was geographically closer to her to assist her in replacing immediate items of need. Hubby and I were terribly worried and stressed. We continued on our way to the resort.
Our room overlooked the ocean and we had magnificent views of the waves crashing in over the rocks. In the distance, we could see one of the beaches where surfers in wet suits were catching waves. We relaxed on the balcony with a big blanket wrapped around us to help keep us warm. The slate floor of the balcony was warm on the feet as it soaked up the warmth from the sun. We made our way down to the lounge for a relaxed casual dinner. Our stress was still simmering underneath but we could feel it subsiding slightly as the lounge was in the upper part of a round carousel style building. The ocean was just feet away from the outer edge of the room so again, you could see the wild waves crashing over the rocks. We enjoyed our waiter as we chatted with him. We had a leisurely dinner and then made our way back to our room. I indulged myself in a long soak in the soaker tub with candles. Again, you could hear the waves outside. It was so peaceful after a bit of a stressful day. I was still torn in wanting to be with my daughter but things were a little settled in that she was spending the night with her aunt and uncle. Unfortunately, that night, I developed a terrible sinus cold with coughing and congestion. How romantic! NOT!!!! Oh well. The next morning (Valentine's Day) Hubby informed me that we had reservations for dinner in the main dining room (lower/ocean level) of the carousel building. We wanted to go for a long walk along the beach that we could see from our room after breakfast. We enjoyed our breakfast and then decided we would drive into the local village and pick up some cold medications for me before we go for our walk. We hoped to look for a couple of geocaches too. As Hubby was waiting for our car (father-in-law's borrowed car) to be brought around by the valet, I made a run up to our room for something I forgot. I just got into our room and the phone rang. It was the front desk and there was a message for Hubby. A family emergency. I called Hubby on his cell phone and gave him the message. I grabbed what I forgot and ran down the stairs to see Hubby on his phone outside. Sad news. Father-in-law had just passed away. We needed to return to his home. We were gutted emotionally. We returned to our room and I quickly packed our stuff together while Hubby contacted family and our children. The resort was fantastic and did not charge us for the cancelled dinner plans or the cancelled spa day that had been planned for me the next day. They gave us a voucher for the rest of our 2 days to be used anytime in the next 2 years. We packed up the car and got going.
My children were very close to their grandpa but especially my daughter. It was gut wrenching to call her and give her the news. In less that 24 hours she lost everything she owned and her beloved grandpa. I am amazed at her inner strength and resilience. We have been as supportive as we can be but we were not nearby physically to help her out. Her friends have been a great support as she has tried to rebuild. Again, I was not nearby to help our son through his grief. Thank God, he had his girlfriend's family who helped him through that first weekend. I continue to battle this cold and I have returned home while Hubby still deals with tying up loose ends. I have no energy due to the cold but I also think due to grief and anxiety.
This morning, I turned to my piano to help me cope with the anxiety humming in my body. I couldn't even concentrate to play. It was not enjoyable. I find myself reading to help escape. I have also discovered the "Giraffe Cam" from Animal Adventure Park where April the Giraffe is due to deliver a baby calf soon. I find it calming to have no noise and just watch this sweet animal. I'm sure it is another way to escape my grief for my father-in-law and my worry for my daughter. I am also stressing about my upcoming maintenance chemo that will take place on Thursday morning. I also feel terrible for my neighbours who lost their daughter to breast cancer last night. I will continue to work through my stress by reading, meditating/praying, using music and watching April. It would be heartwarming for me to see her give birth.
Bottom line.....life changes in an instant.
