A few weeks after Dad passed away, Mom went to spend a couple of weeks in Victoria with my sister Vicki and her family. Vicki's daughter, Anitra, and her family live in the same neighborhood. So, with each visit, there is a guarantee that there will be a lot of time spent with Mom and her great-grandkids.
The youngest, Mason, was born nearly a year ago while Dad was in in-patient physical rehabilitation in the Woodlands. His birth was a major motivator for Dad to complete his recovery program for his broken hip. Dad couldn't travel until his rehabilitation was over. The only way it would completely end was for Dad to be independent enough to walk with a walker and perform basic tasks by himself. Dad was plenty motivated. He would often say that Mason would be half-grown before he would get to see him. By mid February, Dad got the OK and he and Mom were off to Victoria for a two-week stay. There were a lot of pictures of Dad and Mason taken during that time.
Since Dad passed away, Mom has been to Victoria twice. On her first visit, she stayed with my sister while my brother-in-law was out of town. "Your daddy wouldn't want her to be there at home, by herself," she said. Then, on Mom's last visit, she was enlisted to read and visit with patients in an in-patient rehab facility there. That opportunity is available for her any time she goes to Victoria for a visit.
The youngest, Mason, was born nearly a year ago while Dad was in in-patient physical rehabilitation in the Woodlands. His birth was a major motivator for Dad to complete his recovery program for his broken hip. Dad couldn't travel until his rehabilitation was over. The only way it would completely end was for Dad to be independent enough to walk with a walker and perform basic tasks by himself. Dad was plenty motivated. He would often say that Mason would be half-grown before he would get to see him. By mid February, Dad got the OK and he and Mom were off to Victoria for a two-week stay. There were a lot of pictures of Dad and Mason taken during that time.
Since Dad passed away, Mom has been to Victoria twice. On her first visit, she stayed with my sister while my brother-in-law was out of town. "Your daddy wouldn't want her to be there at home, by herself," she said. Then, on Mom's last visit, she was enlisted to read and visit with patients in an in-patient rehab facility there. That opportunity is available for her any time she goes to Victoria for a visit.
Prior to Dad's passing, he and I were making plans to be part of the Lone Star Honor Flight's Final Flight, a road trip to the Museum for the Pacific War, in Fredericksburg, Texas on December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. He and I went on Lone Star Honor Flight 5 to Washington in 2010, so it was only fitting to make this trip. Originally, when he was notified of the trip, he said that Mom couldn't go. In the weeks prior to his passing, Dad talked fondly of his trip to Washington and was looking forward to the trip to Fredericksburg. But, as we know now, it was not to be.
On Veterans Day this year, I took Mom to the Montgomery Junior High Veterans Program. The school has put on this program for many years. Both Mom and Dad attended last year's program. At this year's program, they were promoting the road trip to Fredericksburg and they had expanded the trip to allow spouses to attend along with Veterans. So, Mom and I made plans to go in Dad's place.
The trip itself consisted of some 130 Veterans, 80 spouses and 110 guardians on 6 buses. We departed from the Montgomery High School Athletic Complex around 6:15 AM. The temperatures were in the 30s. Mom and I commented to each other about how Dad would have responded to the cold. "He probably would have decided not to go," Mom said. "Well, he did go to that playoff game in Conroe last year when it was so cold," I told her. (We had to get extra blankets to cover him with and I gave him my over-sized hoodie to wear with everything else he had on. He was a good sport about it, but there's no doubt that he would have preferred to be indoors.) Mom and I wore buttons with one of Dad's pictures from his flight a year and a half ago. We were going in his place, since he couldn't wait to go with us.
