Alright, the first plan was set in motion – Mom, reluctantly, agreed to visit us in California. My husband and I were going to fly out and fly back with her. I know Mom pretty well and she seemed to be hinting that she may not be able to travel because she had ‘so much to do to get ready’. I kept reassuring her that everything would be great and that she shouldn’t worry about the house, she can take care of it when she gets back. Really I was thinking ‘let’s just get her out here and figure everything else out then’. Then I turned to my husband and said, “I bet you any money she won’t come”, but our plans went ahead and we flew to Florida not knowing what to expect when we arrived.

Everything was going along quite well considering Mom didn’t really want to go to California. She had her suitcases spread out over the living room floor, although it looked like she wasn’t ready to go. My husband and I stayed positive and talked about how much fun we’d have and how great it would be to be around family. Not only that, but she’d be able to be involved with her grandson’s life (which is pretty crazy – but that’s another blog) and get to know him. After all, she really only knows our kids from our once a year visit to Florida at Christmas.

So we started talking with Mom about things we needed to do to get ready for the trip, like stop the mail, make sure she had important papers packed, any medications, etc. I could tell she was very uncomfortable about leaving and I realized that this plan was not going to work. She told us that she is not comfortable flying and is just too scared to get on a plane (for reasons I don’t understand until later in our journey). Oh boy, what do we do now?

Next plan.

What I Learned: Don’t underestimate the power of a determined Mom!