I already shared some of the photos taken from our Laguna Beach weekend. It took some creativity with a calendar to carve out an entire three-day weekend in the busiest month of the year, but we had a reason to prioritize a get-away.
We were cashing in on a belated Mother’s Day present. In May I had promised my mom a full day of shopping in Laguna Beach. A day at the beach would also be a late spring kick-off to a season we hoped would be full of many little get-aways.
But in early May –before we even made it to Mother’s Day, my dad ended up in the hospital. A really tough bout with pneumonia left him so weak he had trouble swallowing his food without choking or aspirating. There are so many muscles involved in the swallowing process and you need to be physically strong for everything to work as it should.
Six months of speech therapy to strengthen those tricky muscles and rebuild the swallowing reflex coupled with months of sticking close to home and following a bevy of doctor’s orders…
And I’m delighted to report that dad is stronger and in better overall health than we could have anticipated.
So this was our celebration weekend.
For mom it was a delayed Mother’s Day shopping spree…we jump-started Christmas shopping instead.
And for my dad, I wish I had thought to take a picture of him thoroughly enjoying his restaurant meals.
Although it has been very hard for me to watch my parents go through such a difficult time, I’ve also found it lovely to watch them stay solid in their commitment to one another, unwavering in their personal faith, and disciplined to follow through with all of the therapies while patiently waiting for answers.
So it was absolutely necessary that we finally make it to Laguna, and instead of just a shopping day, extend to include an entire celebration weekend.
We had such a good time, we may need to make this an annual event.
And this week there are four of us ALL breathing lighter!
breathelighter 