Earlier that year, I realized that I had several days of rollover vacation to use (or lose) by end of April. And I needed a vacation! I needed sun. I needed sand. I needed blue skies. And silence. Stress had been escalating, and work had been spiking - and I was ready to leave it all behind and think of absolutely nothing for a while. At first I thought of how awesome it would be to take some time off and away with Charles. God knows he needed it too. But his work situation has been in flux and so he couldn’t commit. I waited, hoping things would clear up for him, all the while looking at my vacation spot options. Should I use my time to be inspired in an intellectually stimulating city like Chicago or New York with its beautiful and rich museums and theatres? Should I explore the corners of Boston or Seattle? After all, you only have so much vacation in a year, and a beach doesn’t exactly “elevate” your thinking. Or should I relax by blue waters? Maybe San Diego. Maybe Florida. Yes, Florida and white sands sounded just perfect to me!
The time kept ticking by, and Charlie’s work situation wasn’t getting any clearer. I thought of a couple of my girlfriends, but timing didn’t quite work out with any of them. I wondered if my mom would go. I always enjoy my time with my mom, and she hadn’t taken a vacation in a long time. But honestly: my heart was set on Charlie going.
As we approached the beginning of April, I had notified my work of my time off, and I had decided on Destin, Florida. I spoke with Charles and he was still up in the air. And so I discussed it with Mom, and she wanted to go. For a moment I thought of Miami, but that would have been too wild to experience with my ‘mother,’ so I settled back on Destin. So it was set. The more I thought of the trip in that light, the more excited I got about a girls trip with just her and myself. We decided on a hotel on the harbor bay, and rented a car so we can check out the beach on the open gulf, as well as nearby small beach towns. I had done my online research and had a loose plan mapped out for our five days of fun in the sun!
It had been a while since mom and I traveled together, and sitting on the plane on our way to Florida, it was coming back to me. Mom had always been a fun-loving person. And without the 'boys' weighing us down (Charles and dad – four people require much more planning), we were free to do as we please. But of course, this is after all my mother, and I was now old enough to feel like I was the caretaker that needed to watch over her, not vice versa. I wanted to make sure she had everything she needed, that she had fun, and got enough rest. So I wanted to take things slow: let her sleep in, not plan too many things in a given day… you know, take care of my ‘older’ mother.
We arrived early, so our room was not ready yet. We asked about a place where we could have a drink or some light food by the water while we waited, and were directed to Harbor Village two minutes from the hotel. Once we got there, still in our travel clothes and un-rested (1hr 45 minutes in the tiniest plane ever has to be tiring for my mother), we walked down to the pier and instantly fell in love with the vibe there.
We found a booth selling dolphin-viewing cruises and little shops that sold local treasures of the sea (some also made in China). As we walked around, Mom discovered a sign for another outfit that offered dolphin cruises. Only they were cheaper and they offered all-you-can-drink beer, wine and sodas. She was sold and sold me on it! Asking how long the ‘spring special’ lasted (maybe we can go tomorrow), Mom said: “Why wait, let’s go back to the hotel, drop off our bags, and go on the sunset cruise at 5pm!” Now that’s what I’m talking about! And here I was thinking I needed to make sure my mother got her rest! Mom drank tons of wine, fed the seagulls, filmed the dolphins and me, doctored the seasick lady sitting next to her, and laughed all along the way.
The next five days were no different: Mom kept up with me every step of the way, pointing out water parks and hole in the wall food places we should go discover. We burnt to a crisp on day one of our beach excursion, but that did not stop my energetic mother one bit. We got our beach gear, spent the day at the beach, came back to the hotel, showered, applied our Aloe Vera, went to dinner, window shopped…and by 9pm ran out of things to do because the town was shutting down! Except for bars (we’re not about heavy drinking; dolphin cruises excluded of course), this was no Agami or Alexandria by the Mediterranean. I expected mom to be tired, but she looked at me in amazement as if to say: how can these people miss out on all the fun that can be had at night??! Now what do we do?! I offered to have a quiet evening at the hotel, watching movies. She looked at me like I was an old hag. But since we were out of options, we went back to the hotel. Of course we never did find a good movie, so we fell asleep. The upside of this was that we were up by 7am and ready to go! Not that that made us want to go to bed any sooner. And forget that my mother would get tired. I had to force her to wrap it up for the night!
All through the trip’s daily activities, mom – the digital guru – managed to talk to my dad, who was in Cairo, via Yahoo Messenger App for iPhone on a daily basis, giving him step by step every experience we were going through. And every time we did something fun or ate a delicious meal, she never failed to note how much she would have loved to have my dad here to experience it with us.
On the last day, we packed up our bags, checked out, and headed for the pier for a while until it was time to head to the airport. Instead of stressing over timing like so many people do, she managed to explore every corner of the beach stores for rare gems to bring home. And we had one last delicious seafood meal, while mom posed for my iPhone home video. This had been the perfect vacation for both of us.
At the airport, we had to deal with some minor shenanigans, mainly because mom had overpacked; and at a small airport, they happen to notice those things. The airport security man was very nice (I love small towns!) and with some expert negotiation by mommy dearest, she convinced him that instead o throwing away her treasured travel size liquids, all she needed to do was to transfer her extras into my bag. And off we went. Sitting on the plane, she was on the other side of the aisle on our tiny plane. My side was a row of one-seaters; her side had two seats. In comes a mother with a 2-year old, a large baby bag, a baby blanket and a teddy bear. And she was going to sit next to my mom in this already tiny plane. Most people would huff and puff. Not my mom. Within moments, she had struck up a conversation with the young mom traveling alone. Minutes later, Mom and the little boy were exploring the SkyMall magazine before he got cranky because it was time for his nap. His mom had that ‘angst look’ on her face, because he was wiggling around, kicking the seat in front of her, and on the verge of crying. Soon, people would be staring and giving her looks because she was inconveniencing them. I was almost thinking I should trade seats with Mom so she could get some rest away from the child. But as I looked over, he was reaching out to Mom and she offered to take him on her lap to give his mom some room. He was happy for a minute, asleep the next! Looking over again, Mom was discussing pediatric medical issues with his mom (he has epilepsy we found out), then moving on to world politics and travel – all the while rocking her leg as she held a sleeping toddler in her lap.
My time with my mother was amazing. Better than I would have ever imagined. My mother is my hero. She has a zest for life like no other. She is spontaneous. She is adventurous. She is young at heart. She reminds me that life is a gift to be enjoyed, with “joy” being the most important part of that word. She didn’t only tell me that the sky is the limit to encourage me in life, she actually believes it. At a young adult age, she worked in very remote areas without running water or electricity, administering to the ill. From there, she accompanied her husband on a work-abroad trip, only to land a physician’s post with multiple mega-construction companies at a time when only men dominated this arena. She was the only Arab woman in an Arab country to work with Japanese, Philippine, and German companies who trusted their thousands of construction workers and hundreds of families into her care. When they called her in the middle of the night, she was instantly available to help and do what a doctor does best. At home, she taught me to be independent, but never failed to check my homework, pushing me more and more towards perfection. To my dad, she was the trusted partner in life, recounting many nights of deep discussions and life-plan making, all while looking stunningly gorgeous! When I didn’t fit in back in Cairo, she stood by me, pushing me out of my comfort zone. When I wanted to go to college in Germany as the natural progression of my “known” education, she pushed me to consider the US to study advertising, since that was the best place for that area of study. No matter that we had never been there or that we knew absolutely nobody there! When the opportunity presented itself for the family to permanently move to the US, she energized herself and my father who was retired by then, picked up their matured and settled life in Egypt, and moved across the globe to start a new life and a new career in medical research in the US. And when a baby's mother felt overwhelmed during their travels, she offered confident comfort and warm, engaging conversation. This was more than a trip. This was God’s way of inspiring me through His display of the works of His hands: my mother.
