Arrivals and Departures

Arrivals and Departures was Originally Posted on October 1, 2010 by lavarock

Last week I left Hawaii to visit my Mom in Florida. She recently had a hip replacement, which is difficult for people of advanced age. I also had not seen her recently and wanted to spend time with her. It was an enjoyable time for both of us. Although she lives with my younger Sister, she is able to be independent because she has her own “apartment” out back with her own kitchen.

All of my life, members of the family have had a variety of pets ranging from simple lizards and fish to the exotic squirrel monkeys my older Sister had. We also had dogs over the decades. Mom continued to complain that we kids never took care of them and she and Dad were left to care fro the animals. She told people she never would have owned a dog herself. You would think that her advanced age would have taught her to never say “never”. She and my younger Sister were at Wal-mart when my Mom passed a family who was selling puppies. She fell instantly in love with a little dog and in the years since, that dog has rarely been apart from my Mom. Perhaps Mom is filling an emptiness caused by Dad passing away, or most of us children moving away. In any event, she wonders how she ever lived without her own dog.

The dog is quite smart; jumping up on the bed at about 9pm, and then burrowing under the covers to become comfortable. Alternatively, Mom saying it’s bedtime will also trigger the dog to head to bed. Perhaps Mom likes the dog because she goes to bed when told; unlike the rest of us kids did

On Saturday I drove Mom down to Daytona Beach so she could visit with some friends who still live in the apartment complex Mom did. As you can imagine, many people moved down there to spend their last days in relatively nice weather and in an area with services catering to older citizens.

As for me, a friend from South Florida came up to visit. We then went and spent time with a guy who used to work with me at the radio station in Kentucky many decades ago. I was fun reliving some of the stories and events. All too soon Mom and I headed back to her home.

Having made many trips between the east coast and Hawaii, I opted for 1st Class tickets this trip and I’m glad for the decision. I had hurt my hip a year ago and it still bothers me. I was able to comfortably travel in 1st, eating and eventually sleeping. You should know that that trip, along with my stops, made the trip quite long. Leaving Kona I stopped in Los Angeles, then Salt Lake City before eventually arriving in Florida. The trip back retraced my outbound steps.

Upon arriving at Kona, I waited at baggage claim and a half hour later, was able to meet a new puppy arriving for the Kennel where my two dogs were staying.

It has been a long trip and I’m happy to be back home.

As an aside, my trip was 1/4 the way around the world, however in the coming weeks, many people will travel here from that distance or greater. We will again host the Kona Ironman Race and some people travel up to half way around the world. I once looked at Google Earth and it appears that Botswana Africa is the spot opposite my house.