All I Want for Christmas Is...

The recent buzz in our family is the news that my dad is finally embarking on his dream to travel the country in his RV, to explore sights, visit family & friends, & make new friends throughout his journey. My dad's been working toward this goal for nearly two years. (Although, the dream's been stirring in his mind for as long as I can remember!) He had to down-size his possessions, which turned into a huge project! Imagine a Tinkerer & Not-Happy-Unless-I'm-Busy-Man who owns a 3 bedroom, 2000 sq ft house with a full basement AND a 3 car garage who also happened to have a Garden Railway in his backyard---and then add tools, technology equipment, pool table, exercise equipment, and odds & ends that he's stored for entertaining his 6 grandchildren whenever they had time to visit. (We're all wondering if he saved his collection of Powerful Water Guns?!)

Over the past 2 years he's had help from friends & neighbors who helped him gut his house for numerous yard sales & trips to the Salvation Army to help him pare things down to exactly what he thought he'd need in his RV as he travels. My sister & our children & I helped him with the emotional task of taking apart his Garden Railroad this summer, hauling cement roads and riverbeds to the dump, collecting all of the cars, animals, and finally the models of all of our houses that Dad has built over the years, complete with shingles, windows, & photos of our faces peering out of those tiny windows. He put his house on the market last spring but with the current market, it didn't sell but we all encouraged him to rent it out so he could finally start his journey before the Ohio winter settled in and made it dangerous for him to travel. He's found a great family to rent his house and resigned from his job at Lowe's (a second home with close friends & coworkers) and he got all of the little details arranged so that he could be mobile for as long as he wants.

Josie's been interested in hearing about Grandpa's preparations and is well aware that California is part of the United States. So being a 7 year old who assumes the world revolves around 7 year olds, she's been hoping that Grandpa would drive to California to spend time with us in Fresno. She knows that he'll make it here eventually but there have been no promises made as to a schedule or an estimated date of arrival. For a girl who likes to 'count the sleeps' to special events, it's been hard for her to understand my response, "someday soon", when she asks, "When will Grandpa come visit us?"

Last week as we were driving home from school we were talking about all of the Christmas lights & decorations on the houses throughout the neighborhood when she casually said, "Think Grandpa will be here for Christmas?" and without waiting for my response she said, "I asked Santa if he could bring my Grandpa here for Christmas but I think I'll ask God, too. Between the two of them, I'll bet they can make it happen. I'm not sure where we'll park his RV, though."

I wasn't going to tell my dad about her comment because I felt that would put too much pressure on him as he's trying to figure out what his first destination would be. He was thinking of going to Florida to visit his brother, my Uncle Norm, who's been in/out of the hospital. He had already talked to my cousin, who lives in Florida, to discuss parking his RV on her property so that he'd be near my uncle & aunt to visit and help out but when he found out that my uncle would be in a rehab facility for a while he started to re-think his plans, thinking he might be in the way. When he mentioned his dilemma, I decided to go ahead and tell him about Josie's comment. Two days later, he called me and told me he'd be heading West, with the hopes that he could arrive in Fresno by the time our Winter Vacation starts on Dec 17th.

Josie has NO idea he's coming or that he's already on his way. He also managed to talk our "Errant" Jane & Uncle Jerry to drive out west with him. The three of them left Columbus, Ohio on the morning of Tuesday, December 7th with giddy plans to stop and see/do anything that they have the urge to do/see on their journey here. So far, they've spent some time in Nashville & when I talked to them today they were in New Mexico with the goal of being in AZ tomorrow to visit the Grand Canyon's South Rim & from there, they may go to Sedona and visit my dad's friend from his elementary school days, who now lives in Phoenix.

As my Aunt Jane said to me this week, "Can't wait to see Josie's face when she sees us pull the RV into the neighborhood and realizes her Grandpa is there! Can you imagine being seven and having all of your dreams come true?"

I can hardly contain my excitement about this secret I'm keeping from Josie so it's a good thing I have plenty of things to do to get my house ready for visitors! Errant Jane & Uncle Jerry will only get to stay for a few days before they fly back to Ohio to celebrate the holidays with their children & grandchildren but I plan on soaking up every single second of their visit.

There's nothing more precious than spending time with family, no matter the occasion.