This is more like it

This weekend we took another large step in the direction of normalcy. Sherry and I spent the night on the coast in Florence. This was our first "overnighter" since she came home in February of 2006 and it felt like old times. It was only our fourth trip out of the Eugene area. On Saturday morning my sister and Jeff picked us up at home and off we went. The weather on the drive over was a bit wet, but once on the coast we lucked out and had pretty nice weather the rest of the time. Once in Florence we ate at Mo's (a little over rated as far as we are concerned.) After that we checked into our rooms at the Riverhouse hotel overlooking the Siuslaw river. It was only a short walk from our room to Florence's "Old Town" section and it's spendy shops. Sherry found a bamboo cutting board that "was just the right size" at Kitchen Klutter, so we bought it. Sherry did a wonderful job of getting around. She still needs some reminders to be aware of her surroundings and of the terrain. Her stamina was great, we walked and shopped for a long time. We bought a stuffed monkey (that we promptly named Florence) for Brittney and a pirate book for Chelsea. After shopping, the four of us decided to have dinner at the Bridgewater Inn. Sherry had a New York steak and I had a crab salad. After dinner and several glasses of wine (me, not Sherry) we went back to our rooms for the night.

The next morning found us shopping again and heading for the Driftwood Shores for a late breakfast. We had a great view of the ocean as we ate and saw a few people trying to fly kites, horses trotting by, and people just generally doing what they do while at the beach. We gave some thought to walking down into the sand ourselves, but the cold and the wind convinced us to wait until next time. Then it was a stop at the local fish market so I could pick up some crab and smoked salmon and then we headed home again.

It's hard for me to describe how great it felt to get away for a night. We used to make these kinds of trips often before Sherry became ill. The fact that Sherry's illness has changed our life dramatically is unavoidable. But this trip was special. More than once I found myself thinking
" this is more like it, this is the life we used to enjoy." Sitting back and knocking down a few a drinks and laughing and joking with my sister and Jeff, it was great.

I need to thank my mother for taking the girls for the night. Also, thank you to Kim and Jeff for taking their weekend and making it so special for us. We love all of you and appreciate you so much. Thank you.

Enough for now,

I love my wife....tomorrow we move forward,

Dean