A Stay in the Sunshine State

Back in February, my grandmother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer. As you can imagine, it came as a pretty big blow to the family. My grandmother's health has been up and down since I was in high school, and there have been multiple times that my mother has come to me to tell me that my grandmother may not be around much longer. In fact, my grandmother has come back from the brink so many times, that I've almost started to dismiss any sort of warning as a false scare. However, as the days passed, it became clear just how serious my grandmother's condition was, and everyone started to make travel plans. Cary Anne and I were finally able to fly down in the middle of May.

My grandparents live in Winter Haven, a small town just south of Orlando. My aunt Callie, uncle Paul, and two cousins, Sarah and Haley, also live there. The last time Cary Anne and I were able to visit all of them was for Sarah's high school graduation in the summer of 2011. (They were living in North Carolina than.) The great thing about the trip to Florida is that it turned into a bit of a family reunion. My brother, Jon, and his wife, Andrea, were able to drive down from Kentucky, and my aunt Tina flew in from Vermont. (CA and I hadn't seen Tina since our wedding back in 2010.)

During our time there, Callie was able to get Cary Anne, Jon, Andrea, and I some free passes to Disney World. Cary Anne hadn't been to Disney since she was a child, and the only other time I had been was when I was16 or so. (Andrea was particularly excited since she had never been.) The day was filled with all the fun you would expect from a trip to Disney World. We had our photo taken with Buzz and Woody, we rode Space Mountain, and we watched fireworks explode over Cinderella's castle at the end of the night.

Most of the next couple of days were spent in the hospital with my grandmother. Though she and my grandfather knew Cary Anne and I were coming, Jon and Andrea's visit was a surprise, so it was great to see my grandparents' reaction when they walked in. With all of us there, the hospital room got pretty cramped, but we made the most of it. At one point, we brought in a small TV and watched old home movies. Later, my grandfather made each of us talk about our lives and our dreams. He talked to Jon and I about how his hope for the family is that we would always stay close and support each other and laugh together. It was nice because, to me, my grandfather has never come off as a particularly sentimental man.

A few day after our arrival, CA and I were able to borrow my aunt and uncle's van to make some short trips outside of Orlando. Cary Anne's cousin, Danielle, (whom CA hadn't seen since 2005) lives less than hour away from Winter Haven. Danielle and her husband, Bill, were nice enough to invite us to dinner at their place. We were able to catch up while their kids ran around and showed us their favorite toys. Another day, we drove over to Clearwater, mainly because I refused to take a 5 day vacation in Florida and never see a beach.

Though the main reason for our trip to Florida wasn't ideal, it turned out to be a pretty nice vacation. For Cary Anne and I, despite all of the great things about moving to Chicago, one of the downsides meant moving farther away from all of our family. Hopefully, we'll continue to have opportunities to visit in the future.