Saying good-bye

My parents left this morning to go to Florida. They are stopping at my sister's in Virginia Beach because she has a medical procedure that requires someone to be with her afterwards.

As I was leaving my parents' house, my mom started to cry which of course set me off. When your children are under the age of five, a week makes a difference and my mom was looking at not seeing her grandchildren for 3 1/2 months. I remind her that there were flights from Florida to Pennsylvania everyday, but depending on my father's medical condition, she may or may not be able to take advantage of them.

My mom is slightly irritated with me for waiting to get married and have children after my father and she decided to move part-time to Florida. If I had not gotten married and had children, she would not feel so guilty about going to the Sunshine state and enjoying retirement. She says this now, but once she gets back and starts socializing again, she will forget she misses me! (Not completely, but not as keenly!)

As an older mom, my parents are also older. The older the parents, the more likely there is to be medical problems. My dad must have two medical procedures done while in Florida: a hip replacement and skin cancer growths removed. My father is a walking advertisement for why everyone needs to wear sunscreen; he has had so many growths removed that he looks like he is addicted to plastic surgery and face lifts. My parents decided to wait until going back to Florida to have the medical procedures done, which also means that none of his children will be able to visit him while he is in recovery. It also means, that if, God forbid, something goes wrong, my mom is alone in Florida dealing with everything. So, you see, each time my parents travel to Florida, I worry that something will happen and that the good-bye I am giving is the last one I get to give.