Well. First up was a late April/early May trip to visit Citygirl in California. That was CLEARLY not going down, so I called and cancelled flights and let the office know to go ahead and schedule patients. By the time I would have taken that trip, the epidemic was in starting-to-slow-down-but-still-terrifying mode.
This week, Babygirl and I were supposed to be on our annual mission trip. In our state, the epidemic is reasonably controlled, and my employer is encouraging "self care." In other words: Take some time off if you need it. Well, I never cancelled this vacation, but the Apalacia Service Project cancelled the entire summer for safety. So we opted to do some home projects.
And we took a trip. We went to the Catskills to try Rail Explorers. I described it to someone as "An entertaining form of torture for overachievers." I was recovering from the leg stiffness at the time, LOL, but the actual activity was really quite fun. It's eight miles of self-propelled pedaling on a railroad track.
And we hiked Bushkill Falls, another overachieving effort, accompanied by my sister-in-law.
In the night in between, Babygirl and I rented a small cabin and camped together for the first time in ages. I had to think hard to remember the last time, and I'm not really sure - maybe when we took that trip down the coast to Florida? She would have been 14? 15?
I pulled out our camping bin, to get out the camp stove and fuel, and, at the last grab, took along the camping tool box, still loaded from the last trip, without even looking to see what was in it (good thing, too! We needed the lighter to light the stove!), It contains all the miscellany that one needs: A can opener, a wine/beer bottle opener, matches, band-aids, cloths pins, knives, flashlights, multitools, hammer, and....
A thermometer.
In the Covid world, this probably should travel with everybody. But it's a testament to how blase we are about Babygirl's post-transplant life that I didn't thinks to include one in my bag, because there clearly was a time when I would NEVER have considered walking out the door for an overnight adventure without one. It's not that we aren't protective, or careful, or vigilant. It's that a lot of that weight falls to Babygirl's clearly now-adult self. If she didn't remember to bring her medication, it isn't because I didn't remind her, it's because it's her job and she forgot. About the only thing I do these days is make sure she's up on her refills. She keeps track of blood work, medication sorting, travel medication, all of that. She has begun staying on top of some of MY stuff.
I need to remind her to add a thermometer to her overnight bag, for future trips. And then we are good to go.
It's both a good thing and a sad thing to not be so intensely necessary.
Deedee
