Unconditional Love

This week we decided to take a trip across four states and with an LVAD patient it isn’t exactly practical especially in a car. But we did it and we got this. The memories we will have outweigh all the extra preparations we had to take.

It was not something my husband wanted to do, but he always says happy wife happy life and this trip made me happy. We started to plan a few weeks ago. Every detail had to be worked out before we left.

We had to make sure his team was on board, we had to fill all his prescriptions to assure we had enough for two or more weeks just incase, we had to pack all his dressing change supplies for several changes, we had to map out places to stay incase we needed to charge his batteries, we had to make sure we had all his equipment with us and pack our clothes, shoes, snacks, drinks and make sure the car was safe and ready for a trip to get us there safely. It was a lot to plan but we knew that before deciding to go.

The morning we woke up, Joe’s nerves were on edge. I’m not going to lie I was quite nervous about the whole thing but I knew this trip needed to happen. It was in the cards and we were going no matter what. We had to get on the road early so he had no time to think or back out. Six AM and the car was loaded and there was no turning back, Minot, ND here we come.

The gas tank was full, I had my coffee, we buckled up and we were off. We joked, laughed and stayed quiet for awhile. We got on the expressway and we said at the same time, “Are we really doing this?” Oh yes, we are doing this and it’s going to be okay. I just knew it.

We made it to our first destination, it was a stop on Joe’s bucket list. It’s now our life mission to do as much as we can because life is so unpredictable that living each to the fullest will be all we can do right now. Kitch-iti-kipi was a place I never knew he wanted to go and here we are living the dream.

The drive was beautiful, the first stop was amazing, the conversations we had were heartfelt, this trip needed to happen years ago, why did we wait? Why did getting sick get us here? Did this happen so we could live life to the fullest? If so, I’m thankful now for the wonderful memories we are making.