Six Airplanes
Good morning Sweet Ayla,
It’s 0630 and I’m steeping a cup of winter chai herbal tea (South African rooibos and exotic chai spices). I can hear the rain outside. Otherwise, the house is quiet. The Christmas tree is lit up and Holden is asleep on the love seat. Your papa left for work 40 minutes ago and you are still sleeping in your bassinet. Teresa is also still in her room. She goes home to Vegas for the holidays tomorrow morning.
Before Papa left he told me he has two favorite pictures of you out of the 14 we have in two separate picture frames. One is of you in your pink-striped kitty onesie (the feet pajamas). You’re laying down on our bed, smiling. It was taken on Thursday, October 17. His other favorite was taken on Sunday, November 3, probably after we all got home from breakfast at Grumpy’s. Again, you’re laying on our bed, this time wearing a pink hooded button-up onesie (no feet) that I got you for our then-upcoming trip to Maryland (the outfit no longer fits you, by the way!). You have such a cute expression on your face!
I haven’ t been able to choose a favorite, but I greatly enjoy looking at your pictures every day. You are so adorable and such a joy in my life!
The reason I’m writing you is because you’ve now been on your second trip via airplane! You and I have recently returned home from Las Vegas, NV. We went because Grandma Carol was in the hospital. She originally went in for pneumonia, but then blood clots began to form in her legs that would require surgery. I believe the clots formed after she had a stroke in the hospital. They felt they would have to amputate one of her legs because the clots were so bad, but also didn’t believe she’d survive the surgery. She was on life support, as the stroke had damaged 33% of her brain. The prognosis was that she would never fully recover and would be on life support as long as she lived. Uncle Chris (her son) knew she wouldn’t want that and decided to take her off life support. It was anybody’s guess how long she would last once that happened. So, we bought a round-trip ticket to Vegas for $325 leaving the very evening we were told all of this by Cliff (who heard it via text from Uncle Chris), on December 15.
Unfortunately, we didn’t make it in time. Grandma Carol died at 9:35 pm on December 15…we didn’t even land until around 11:30 pm.
Cousins Sammy and Jordan (Uncle Chris’s children) picked us up from the airport. I’ll be honest – when Sammie told me we were too late, I immediately wished we hadn’t come. I was hoping to introduce you to Grandma. I knew she couldn’t see then, but could hear and move her hand. I wanted her to know we were there for her and give her the opportunity to hold your hand. But we were too late. I was sad.
We stayed, of course, and spent the week sleeping together in Grandma Carol’s bed at Uncle Chris’s house. Cliff and his girlfriend Kayla were also in town – in time to be with Grandma before she passed, thank goodness. They stayed at the Orleans Hotel.
We were fortunate to be in town for Uncle Chris’s graduation from the Corrections Officer Academy. It was a very big day for him. He’s always wanted to be a Corrections Officer and finally went for it, graduating at the age of 50. He’s an inspiration! I’m glad we were able to be there for that.
You were a big hit in Vegas! Aunt Lorena took quite a liking to you and was a big help to me, holding you as often as she could. She was also very sweet, making me breakfast almost every morning! You even fell asleep in her arms one morning while I showered.
You got to meet your Uncle Cliff, which I was very happy about. He scared you several times, however. The first time, you were eating and he laughed his booming laugh. It startled you so bad, you threw your hands up to the side, jumped back and looked up at me like WTF was that?!
He scared you pretty bad again at the graduation. When Uncle Chris was called, Cliff was hootin’ & hollerin’. He was also sitting next to you. This caused you to flail your arms again and cry cry cry in distress. I had to take you out of the carseat to help you calm down. I even put your noise-cancelling headphones on to give you a break.
You also got to meet your Aunt Sarah. She has 37,000 followers on Tik Tok! She’s a little influencer in the CosPlay world and I’m excited to see where she takes it.
So there you have it, Baby Girl. You’ve been on six airplanes before turning four months old! You’ve been to our nation’s capitol and Sin City. There are people who’ve lived 30+ years and haven’t made it as far as you, so you’re on a good track!
Where shall we go next, Lovely Bird?
Love,
Mama