Gifts and Returns

The week of Megan's funeral was one of the toughest of our lives. On Monday we finished plans for the services. The viewing was held on Tuesday evening. Wednesday was the day of the funeral and burial. Thursday was Megan's 10th birthday. On Friday, the funeral home brought the rest of the cards, pictures of the floral arrangements, the laminated bookmarks, programs, & grave marker they made for us, along with the clothing and tags Megan was wearing when she arrived at the funeral home. On Saturday, the home medical supply company came to pick up the rented oxygen tanks, suction machine, feeding pump, and IV pole we used everyday to care for Megan. Monica was also invited to a birthday party on Saturday afternoon.

Ken and I frequently talked about taking Monica somewhere so the three of us could just take a break, relax, and just be with one another once we lost Megan. This was something we have thought about the last couple of years because we knew that Megan's time was getting shorter. Some family friends offered to help us find a good hotel when they attended Megan's viewing on Tuesday. They gave us a week of their time-share vacation plan on an instant's notice so that we could get away and not have to worry about that large expense.

I wanted to go lay on a beach somewhere and soak up the sun. Monica wanted to go to Disney and meet Ariel, her favorite princess. The hotel our friends found available was a week at a wonderful resort 4 miles from Disney World. In addition, some of our extended family members also gave us enough to pay for our Disney tickets once we got there - neither Ken nor Monica have ever been there. As soon as the birthday party ended on Saturday we dropped everything (literally) and traveled to Florida.

We spent a week at the wonderful resort hotel and then were able to find a place on a beach near Tampa for an extremely reasonable rate because of the current low seasonal traffic. We stayed there for a week as well and returned this last Saturday evening. The Lord provided all the arrangements for our family to get away and place a break between all of the stress from this summer and the month of September in the hospital with Megan before having to tackle all of the new details at home since Megan went to live with Him.

This trip was a gift that we will never forget. We were able to spend time together, talk to each other, enjoy our time away, and get some very much needed rest. We learned several things while we were away and the next few posts will talk about what we learned, heard from each other, and heard from God. We will always be very thankful for this very special experience.