This past weekend I went to San Antonio to visit my sister. My youngest, Julia, went with me and we had a wonderful time. The weather was cold and dreary, but that really didn’t matter. We went to Rudy’s for barbeque, the rodeo, and the Riverwalk with a birthday celebration for my niece, Lydia, thrown in there. The weekend was complete with a visit to a used bookstore, painting Lydia a gift, and preparing for her party.
It was tricky to get away from Habersham for four days. Just like our family trip to Charleston in late December, I had to plan well ahead so caregivers and Dad were set up to cover everything. I almost didn’t go when one caregiver got sick. Because Dad has so much alone time with Mom already over the weekend, I was concerned about his Friday. Thankfully, our new caregiver, Amy and Jean were able to cover Friday. I was still concerned and kept checking on Dad by text. Our caregivers were wonderful, as usual. Nevertheless, I didn’t relax until I was back with Mom on Sunday night.
San Antonio holds all sorts of memories for Mom and Dad. They lived there from 1964 – 1966 and built their first retirement home on Cedar Elm. Although I never lived there, I grew up with all sorts of stories from their time there. I have seen pictures and have my memories of their Texas-sized memories – black and white photographs of my siblings’ childhoods, Castle Hills Baptist Church, and their life at Kelly and Randolph Air Force Bases. I grew up with these places lodged in my memory although I didn’t have any first-hand knowledge. I also knew there was no football team like the Dallas Cowboys and no coach as smart or classy as Tom Landry.
My personal memories of San Antonio include two trips with college choirs and three previous trips as an adult. I’ve performed on the Riverwalk, sung in the convention center, shopped the Mercado, eaten delicious food, and spent a blistering day with my family and niece Megan at Fiesta Texas. I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving with servicemen at a feast on post and eaten the biggest cinnamon roll ever at the Gunther House. One of the last trips with Mom and Dad was driving to San Antonio for my niece Kelsey’s high school graduation.
While I was in San Antonio with Carla this weekend, memories of Mom and Dad were never far away. Carla wore Mom’s cowboy boots to the rodeo and told me stories of wanting to be a cowgirl when she was a kid living there. Driving down a main thoroughfare, Carla remembered how Mom would drive the ladies from the neighborhood downtown because they were too afraid to drive downtown by themselves. We both wondered how differently our lives would have been had Mom and Dad retired in San Antonio for good.
Carla loves living in San Antonio, and while I love to visit the city, I could not live there; there are too many people and cars and too much busyness. This was a great trip with Julia, even with the crazy airports and cold, damp weather. We have discovered that four days is a perfect vacation for us because we still had time to get homesick for Michael and our beds!
As a caregiver, it’s important to vacate my responsibilities for a bit. Although I thought of Mom and Dad often, I had to rely on others to care for them. It was a good reminder for me.
