The Rest Of The Story: Maine

On my way to school, work, and other various destinations in my life, I used to listen to the radio icon Paul Harvey.  His Rest of the Story program always held interesting stories that gave you a bigger insight into someone or something that you already knew.  Clearly, his "and now you know... the rest of the story..." was the perfect tag line to every radio episode. 

As I posted my final blog of 2009, and took a blogger's vacation, I neglected to give you the rest of the story regarding my leave of blog-o-sphere absence.  Of course, it was easy to assume that Christmas had hijacked my brain and body so I was unable to post a tidbit of reading material.  While that is true in a sense, there is still more to my blog vacation story.  I'd like to share a piece of it with you today.

The Wednesday evening before my last blog post, my husband received a phone call from his dad.  C was told that his grandmother, lovingly referred to as Nana, was not doing well and would be going off of dialysis after the holidays.  We had planned to visit her, in our other home state of Maine, over Spring Break in April.  The news not own threw a monkey wrench into our plans, but left us feeling a strong sense of sadness.  Nana suffers from Alzheimer’s, diabetes, & kidney failure (among other health issues) and we were hoping to spend some time with her before she left us to spend a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow with God.

After talking to my husband, I told him that we were going to have a chance to say goodbye to his adoring grandmother.  Our son, O, was almost on Christmas break and I was certain that C's work would allow him to take his vacation time on short notice, due to the situation.  As Christmas was quickly approaching, I finished up all of the projects and preparations for the big day, while planning out our packing list.  It was a busy week trying to get ready for the blessed holiday and a long road trip to Maine, but I knew that I would never regret the hectic days.  The day after Christmas, we rolled out of our driveway and headed to spend some time with our family & friends on the East coast.

Two days on the road with two young boys is never an easy task, but it was so worth it.  When we rolled into my father-in-law's driveway that Sunday night, we shared a small Christmas celebration before heading to bed.  Our week would be busy and we knew it would go by much too quickly, so plenty of rest was in order.  As it was a whirlwind, I feel as though we were in fast forward nearly the entire time.  Gratefully, we were able to visit with most of our friends & family at least once, visit our favorite place in Maine (even if it was unbearably cold), and eat at a few of our favorite Maine food locations.  Most importantly, we were able to spend a couple of hours with Nana. 

When we visited, Nana was having a good day.  She knew who we were and although she could not remember when the boys were born, or how far apart they were, she understood that O & M were our children.  I believe we were given a gift that day, as she has had much harder days in most recent weeks.  Nana said a few little things that we will carry with us, and we were able to let her know that she means so much to us.  It seemed as though the time went by all too quickly, but as though we were in slow motion at the same time. Leaving her room was more difficult than I think my husband or I had imagined.  Before we left, she said the words, "I hope to see you again..."  and we told her that she would. 

With all my heart, I know those words to be the truth.  Nana is a woman of strong Christian faith, and we know we will see her again in Heaven.  When it is time, she will be welcomed into the loving arms of God, just as she has often opened her arms to her many sons, daughter-in-laws, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, other family members, & friends.  We have been so very blessed to have been a part of her life. 

A Little Piece of Heaven In A Store

That's right! This is the blogtastic blog you've been waiting for, well at least I know Marybeth has been. It's all about that little piece of heaven in a store... Target! However, this isn't just any Target store... It's a SUPER Target!!! Amazing isn't it! Personally, I believe that every Target should have "SUPER" as part of it's name and the current SUPER Targets should be known as SPLENDIFOROUS Target or better yet, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Target! Regardless, I have waited all my life to enter the blessed red & white surroundings of a SUPER Target. I would not feel complete in my life had I not been able to experience such a magnificent event as shopping at a SUPER Target!

Ever since the day that I knew SUPER Target existed, I knew I would someday walk through those glorious automatic doors. I longed for the day when someone would build such a magnificent place within driving distance. Then one day my husband declared that we would be taking a vacation to Florida. He added that a SUPER Target would be a short distance away from our hotel. My husband, although not obsessed, enjoys Target like any other sane person would. Knowing that I would walk to SUPER Target if I had to, he promised to take me the day that we arrived!

This past April, we left our home in Michigan to start our long awaited vacation. The drive to Florida was of course full of the usual vacation excitement, but I also had visions of SUPER Target dancing through my head. We had packed lunches for the first day of driving and when lunch time rolled around, my husband took an exit that held more than a parking lot and a public restroom. It seemed like fate that we would end up taking an exit that held a little piece of Heaven in a store. We did not have time to shop or browse, however everybody needed to take a bathroom break. What better place to stop than a SUPER Target! I entered and looked around distractedly as my husband pointed in the direction of the restrooms a short distance from the entrance. This would have been the only time I had wished it was in the back of the store! I felt like I was hungry and someone was eating in front of me, unwilling to share. At least I caught a small glimpse of what I was hoping to explore the next evening!

The rest of our road trip was full of boring traffic and listening to the occassional unentertaining voice of our GPS, dubbed Veronica. We stayed in Georgia overnight, before continuing to Florida the next day. There was one interesting stop in Floriday involving a 13' gator, but other than that it was your usual road trip. Then we arrived... at our hotel that is! I was anxious to get settled as my husband took a trip to the Orlando airport to pick up my father-in-law and his wonderful girlfriend. Once they returned, I knew we'll be letting our kids enjoy the company of their grandparents while we took a short drive to enjoy the SUPER Target experience.

When everyone was settled, we were off! My husband laughed at my giddy school girl excitement, but I knew he too was looking forward to this major event. When we pulled in, I was in awe. The palm trees accented the big red target so beautifully. I forced my husband to take a few pictures before entering my favorite store in the world. He again thought I was a little goofy, but he obliged. Once in the store, we ignored our "to get" list in favor of exploring first. The biggest difference from a normal Target were #1 size, #2 a garden center, #3 an entire food & grocery department, and #4 more cool stuff! This particular SUPER Target was the closest to Walt Disney World, so it also held an entire section devoted to the "happiest place on earth!"

While in the garden center, I instantly made myself comfortable on a nearby patio couch. With a chandelier lit gazebo above me, I assumed this would be a very comfortable place to sleep. I instantly considered the thought of moving in. Anyone who has read the book or watched the movie "Where The Heart Is" knows this is a real possibility. My husband burst that bubble quite quickly however and insisted that we got on to our shopping. Along the way to the grocery section of the store, I continuously paused and drooled at all of the pretty things. Then I realized I was walking down aisle upon aisle of real food in Target! I stopped to admire the wine display, of course I don't drink it but I certainly loved the display, and all of the different delicious items that I wouldn't normally see in a Target store.

All in all, my SUPER Target experience was excellent! I could only have wished for 2 more things to really make it even better... #1 that I had more time to enjoy it and #2 that it was down the road or across the street from home!

SUPER Target... truly a little piece of Heaven in a store!