How does...
~a hospice conference
~a gall bladder gone bad
~a future stepdaughter
~a very recent bone marrow transplant survivor who cannot drive a manual transmission
~and an October snowstorm
ALL add up to an incredible memory?
My fiancé, his 18 year old daughter and I traveled to the 2013 Colorado Hospice Conference. Stuart is a hospice chaplain and has done presentations across the US, but none excited us more than going to Colorado to present. His 18 year old daughter traveled with us-something for which I was so grateful-read on!
We traveled the southern scenic route from Oklahoma, crossing over Hoosier Pass. No big deal, right? Especially in a Jeep Wrangler, right? Unless your fiancé has a gallbladder failure nearing the peak, is in agony, and I cannot drive a stick shift! To the rescue-his daughter. We find a small spot on a curve to pull over, trade out drivers and allow the 18 year old who has never driven in the mountains to take us the rest of the way up, then down the steep pass. Disaster, and we haven’t even arrived yet!
After a few stops to allow Stuart to rest, we pull into The Seasons, a beautiful home that backs to the trees with the hot tub just across the way. It is early afternoon, the patient tucked in bed with a fever. His daughter and I get along, but had never spent time alone, until now. So what does one do with a future step daughter for the rest of the day? We explored Lake Dillon and small shops; awkwardness eased and by the time we go for sushi we were talking non stop.
Thursday morning Stuart barely makes his presentation and then back to bed. That afternoon his daughter wanted to go hiking! I love to hike, but I was only 7 weeks out from a bone marrow transplant. Weakness was an understatement. But hiking we did go and it was wonderful. She went slow so I could keep up and kept the trails simple. It was glorious to be out in nature after having spent 6 weeks in a hospital. Fresh air, a chill and breeze from the north...snow was coming. Sushi for dinner once more, and then home to The Seasons to check on “sicky”.
We awoke Friday to 4” of snow! I sat a beer bottle on the balcony edge to measure the snow-so much fun. Such wonderful weather to explore the village of Breckenridge. Snow was falling, and walking through such a quaint village was a delight. A quick stop for lunch in a café and we drove back to The Seasons. Time for, you guessed it,hot tub in the snowfall! With the gallbladder victim as well!
Has there ever been anything more perfect than sitting in a hot tub as the snow fell around you? I think not. It was perfect, glorious, wonderful, am I leaving any adjectives out? And the best part was that my fiancé, his daughter and I were all enjoying it together.
We left the next day with incredible memories from what many would consider a failure of a vacation. But it was absolutely perfect, with beautiful and unique memories that we will all laugh and share stories of forever. Even the sick chaplain!