Road Trips

Today is our 10-year wedding anniversary. We should be on a big ship right now (or as Al called it...a floating feedlot) eating our way through the Bahamas. Or we could be on a gorgeous island in Hawaii or even on a golf resort in Arizona or Florida. We had even talked about flying to New York and then driving up to New England with no plan except to take our time and enjoy the scenery. The bottom line is that we never decided where we were going to go, we just knew we were going to do something big.

We enjoyed traveling together. We liked to drive. We would take out the third seat in the Suburban, load up drinks and sandwiches in a cooler and drive. In our ten years together, we drove to Scottsdale, AZ; Orlando, FL (about 4 times); San Diego, CA; Santa Fe, NM; Branson, MO; Destin, FL (about 3 times) and various cities throughout Texas. On our longer trips, we would usually space out our trips over a two day period. I would be the deejay and alternate between Christian music, preaching CDs and of course, I had to throw in a little George Strait. (I was always made fun of for that one!) Al had a great voice...I would put in his favorite CDs and ask him to sing. He did, loud and with feeling. I would "attempt" to sing along, but I did that infrequently because I didn't want to ruin the song. I make a joyful (aka out-of-tune) noise!

I was the navigation system (along with On-Star) and Al drove. He never let me drive. I offered all the time, but he felt it was his job to do it. Periodically, he would let me take the wheel for about 30 minutes to an hour so he could take a power nap. Aside from that, we drove at least 10 hours a day and loved it.

Our last trip together was the first week of June, 2010 to San Diego, CA. It was a beautiful drive. Jessica, Javier and the girls followed in their car and we had a caravan to the coast. Delilah rode with us the 2nd day, solely I think to get away from her sisters. We enjoyed having her with us. Al felt OK during that trip. Just OK, not great. I look back now and remember that he had to stop several times during the day as we walked around the San Diego Zoo. He did play golf twice, but struggled with swollen legs. Also, he skipped the whole day that we went to Legoland. He stayed behind in the hotel to rest. It is obvious now that he was sick and we just didn't know it. I think of that trip often and am so grateful we had one last time to take a long road trip together.

Even in the last two weeks of his life, Al would bring up our 10 year anniversary trip. He asked me where I wanted to go. I kidded with him and told him that after spending all that time in the hospital, we needed to get far, far away. I am grateful that we never talked about the fact that the trip would never happen, even though I knew it wouldn't. I can't say that Al knew, because he never, never, never gave up hope that he would get out of that place.

A couple of days ago Nene asked if PawPaw was still in heaven. Jessica told her that he was. Nene then asked if he was ever going to come back. No, he won't come back. He has made the ultimate road trip and I can only imagine what is happening at his final destination. Happy Anniversary.

Grocery Store

The other day I went to the grocery store. Most of you are now probably saying, "so"? But for those that really know me that statement is a milestone. I hate to grocery shop and my husband loved to. He would do all the shopping and would go to the store at least once or twice a week. We had a standing date on Thursday nights to go to HEB Plus. (What a romantic!) I shop quickly, dropping things in the basket aisle by aisle, or I would simply skip an aisle if I vaguely thought I didn't need anything on it. When we went together, I would leave Al in the produce section, while I grabbed everything else we needed. I would get a few things, then drop them in the cart (which he insisted he be in charge of) and move on to get another handful. He would stay in the produce section for hours if I let him. Does anybody else tap watermelon and sniff cantaloupe to see if they're fresh? What is that anyway?

I remember exactly the last time Al went grocery shopping. It was October 22nd - the day his leg got infected and the last day our lives were normal. Later that night he went to the emergency room for the first time and was diagnosed six days later. Because I was so busy with him, we hired someone to take care of the house and to do the grocery shopping. So, calculating all that time, it has been over 5 months since I personally set foot into a grocery store. Because grocery shopping was such a personal experience for both of us, I had been dreading venturing inside a store on my own. But, I had moved and I had absolutely nothing to eat. I did well going into the store, but when I turned the first corner and saw the produce, I lost it. Consequently, I skipped the whole section and still have no fruits and vegetables.

I am not as good a shopper as Al was. By the end of my trip I had powered donuts, vanilla wafers, sea salt and vinegar potato chips, mixed nuts, toilet paper and diet coke. Oh well, fruits and vegtebles are overrated... maybe next time.