We're back....

Thank you for praying for snow! We had to leave early to beat the 'winter storm' all the forecasters were calling for on Sunday. The crazy thing is that none of the news stations in Deep Creek were mentioning snow...yet our family back home was calling to tell us that in our area, we could expect up to 8-11 inches. It was very bizarre.

What a whirlwind of a weekend. Spent Thursday night and Friday morning packing up. I don't know why in my mind, packing Gabe up is some easy task. It's like I think I can just blink and transport his room to the place we're going to. In reality it takes so much packing and remembering every little thing he MIGHT need. It's A LOT. A LOT of machines. And medical equipment. A lot of trips back and forth from the car.

By about 12:30 pm on Friday, Shaun and I were ready to roll out of our driveway, after fighting with the ventilator to get it in our van. We stopped by Chick-Fil-A to get some lunch for the girls and tell me why we had to drive by all these little boys with blonde hair that looked to be about 2 years old. I was in tears in the back of the van pushing the button repeatedly on Gabe's ventilator to get it to stop beeping. When I take Gabe and all his 'stuff' out of the security of his room and our house, it is glaringly obvious how not normal it is. And it hurts.

Of course the girl at the window was a girl who we knew from church that we hadn't seen in awhile and she asked "What is the machine for?" More tears.... I was in a bad mood. Why did I even bother? What a dumb idea to take Gabe out of the one place where he is normal and he belongs? Luckily, the food helped to cheer me up, as it always does, and we continued on our way for the next 2 1/2 hours, merrily punched the button the entire time as it kept beeping and beeping and beeping.

Little did I know I was going to spend the weekend with one of the most selfless, generous people I've ever met. Lisa is such an amazing person. She loves Gabe from the bottom of her heart and treats him like her son. In her home in Deep Creek, Gabe was nothing less than normal, a part of the family, in fact the center of attention. She didn't bat an eye as we unloaded bag after bag, ventilator, suction, monitor, stroller, car seat, and overtook her place :) She had beds set up, food stocked in the fridge for us, and movies for the girls.

Thanks to her, the 4 of us (me and kids) plus my wonderful mom who was there, as always, to lend 2 extra helping hands, were able to have a very relaxing weekend away from the usual grind and hum-drum of life. On Saturday we took the girls on a mountain roller coaster which I must say was JUST as scary as I thought it was going to be although everyone assured me it wouldn't be :) Also went snow tubing.... fun! Meanwhile Lisa and her daughter Lauren took Gabe for a walk. She's so ambitious, I tell you! She was supposed to be on vacation too! (She also cooked every meal, most definitely the hostess with the mostess!)

Then on Saturday evening Lisa told us about these beautiful waterfalls that we had to check out, so Mom and I and the girls jumped in the car with Lisa's GPS to find them. It obviously took us the 'back way' because we were driving farther and farther from civilization... the homes/trailers got farther and farther from each other, the mountainous slopes of Wisp were more distant in our mirrors, and a chicken even jumped out in from of our car. Where did that come from?!

We were about 30 minutes out from Deep Creek, near Garrett County State Park, when the GPS told us to turn left on an unmarked road where we would 'reach our destination.' Well, Mom turned on the dirt road and as we drove on it, with the GPS telling us we'd reached the waterfalls, all we saw was... forest. Dark scary forest.

The further she drove, the more rocky and dangerous the road became... covered with ice, sticks, large rocks. All of a sudden we heard a loud BOOM as if we'd run over something big, and then Mom's car starts making a broken-down sound. We were SO scared. Here we were in obviously the wrong place.... a road leading to nowhere with no end in sight.... no pretty waterfalls.... a damaged vehicle and dangerous terrain to travel on. We immediately started praying, mainly out of genuine Godly FEAR!

Soon, we actually came upon an area to turn around at... and miraculously as soon as the vehicle was turned around, it stopped making the loud screeching noise. We got out to survey the car; no apparent damage and no bears or 'Jason Voorhees' came to get us either! (This was a scary place...)

We called Lisa and confirmed that yes, we were definitely NOT in the right place. We were SO lost and thankfully able to wrangle the rocky road back out onto the 'main road' which was STILL the middle of nowhere! And Mom's car never made another sound... Phew!

When I think about everything that could have gone wrong with that situation... car broken down, back road that no one knows about, Lisa not being able to find us, cell phone close to dying... I am SOOOOO thankful we made it out of there in one piece!

Sunday we packed up to leave; much earlier than expected because we wanted to beat the snow (also not knowing if Mom's vehicle was totally 100% functional and wanted to drive while still light). Had an enjoyable 2 1/2 hours back of punching the stupid button and listening to 2 grouchy girls in the back SO not wanting to be in the car anymore!! :)

You can guess who was the best behaved little boy. My one and only Gabe. Always an angel....

I am so thankful for the weekend. It was a nice change of pace, new adventures, good company, a place we kicked up our feet and just held Gabe most of the weekend, much to his happiness. Lisa, if you happen to be reading this, thank you for making us feel SO welcomed... ALL of us.

I never could have imagined we'd have such incredible people come into our lives such as Lisa, Diane, Mary, Michele and Delali. The circumstances make me wish I never would have had to meet them.... if Gabe was well and didn't require home nursing.... yet I know that "in all things, God works together for the GOOD." In Gabe's situation He has brought GOOD to us, even in the midst of so much BAD.

He brought these amazing ladies in my life, Shaun's life, the girls' lives, and Gabe's life to be friends, mentors, nurses, caregivers, lifesavers.

I know I don't usually write this much, but as you can probably tell I'm feeling emotional tonight. I could go on and tell you about an amazing 'coincidence' of mine and Diane's paths crossing at Children's Hospital long before I even knew who she was...but I'll save that for another time.

For now I'll just focus on the GOOD.... I'm looking for it, and I know it is there... sometimes in the forms you least expect.

Love to all~ Rachel