There's No Place Like Home

We made it home Wednesday afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. The original plan was to spend the day in Denver at the hospital because both my brother and sister-in-law needed to go into work for awhile, so we were going to take the shift. But. My niece had a bad night Monday and into Tuesday morning, so tests were ordered and my sister-in-law called and told work she wouldn't be there. We spent the morning at the hospital, but with the weather reports coming in, we decided it might be best to head home. It was hard on Mom. I know she wanted to stay. But she has back trouble and this trip was not kind to her. My niece's recovery is going to be long--there is no way Mom could stay the whole time. Maybe 10 years ago, but her health just isn't up to it anymore. There have been times in the past when they were going through rough times and Mom went and stayed and helped around the house and took care of the other kids, but she just can't, anymore. The spirit is willing, but the body just can't do it. It hurts to see her like this. She was always so strong and active. I almost think it's harder for my brother to see her like this because he only sees her once or twice a year, whereas I have seen her gradually going down-hill.

Anyway, the whole point of this, before I got off track, was that we left just a few hours ahead of "Winter Storm Q". We stopped for the night in the middle of Kansas, got up early (with some nudging from me) and got back on the road. If we had stuck to our original plan to leave Wednesday we would probably just be getting started. As much as I wanted to be there, it's good to be home!