For the past three years, I’ve spent five days each summer in Las Vegas for work. I’ve never taken anyone with me, other than my coworkers. This year, though, I called my mom and invited her to join me; I’ve ALWAYS wanted to hang out with Mom in Vegas and this year, we made it happen.
Instead of flying in while I was busy with work, Mom elected to fly in on the last day of our tradeshow and we stayed an additional three nights. The beginning of our insanely fun girl weekend was fraught with complications, including no A/C in the airport, a super late flight, a lost cell phone, a hotel that forgot to hold our room, and an initial replacement room that looked like something from a horror movie, but we got the crap out of the way early on in the trip.
Sadly, even though we both took our cameras to Vegas and both have cameras on our phones, we neither one took a single picture. That’s a huge fail on our part, as documenting those memories would have been a fabulous idea.
We definitely made the most of our four days. We gambled up and down the Strip, visited Fremont twice, had fantastic balloon hats made at Margaritaville, spent way too much money in The Mirage at The Beatles stores, and slept very little. Oh, and we crammed in a bachelorette party and a wedding for one of my best friends, too.
I came home broke, but totally happy. I may not have won in the casino, but I definitely won in the mom department!
It seems like everyone these days talks about having a bucket list – you know, a list of things they want to do before they kick the proverbial bucket. I’ve never assembled a formal bucket list. Instead, I just know there are lots of things I want to do while I’ve still got time. I’ve done some of them, but nowhere nearly all; some have been amazing experiences and others haven’t been as fun. But this one? This one was a biggie. As I said, I’ve always wanted to do Vegas with my mom and it was more fun than I ever dreamed! And, yes, we’re already starting to plan our next trip. I can’t wait!
Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
How Must it Feel?
All of my life, I've known that my mom loves me. Even during the sometimes tumultuous teenage years, I've knew that she loved me unconditionally, although I'm sure there were plenty of times when she wanted to throttle me. (My father's a different story, but I'm not going into that here.)
So many people don't have that unconditional love, even though a parent's love is supposed to be a given. As I read about the children who have been given up (or abandoned) under Nebraska's Safe Haven Law, my heart just breaks. For these children and parents, it often appears that the love is conditional, which is horribly sad.
Under Nebraska's Safe Haven Law, any "minor" can be left at a hospital if the parent feels as though he or she can no longer care for the child. The problem is that there is a major loophole in the law -- the word "minor" was not defined; thus, as of today, 31 children have been abandoned at hospitals -- children of all ages, up to and including 18. One father abandoned nine of his 10 children. I completely understand the rationale behind these laws that many states have -- they're to prevent parents from just throwing away babies, as they're typically designed to protect infants.
I can only imagine how these children must feel. The infants and small children probably won't remember being left, but what about the older children? How must it feel to have your parent actually say that you are unwanted, and in some cases, truly unloved?
Some argue that these children now are able to be in a better place, which might be the case in some instances. Hopefully that's true. Hopefully these children now are in a place where they are loved, cared for, receive counseling, and know that they have a happier future. Hopefully these children will eventually know unconditional love.
This just underscores that I'm a very, very, very lucky and blessed person. I know that I am loved and can rest warm with that thought tonight. In fact, I think I'm going to call my mom and tell her how much she is loved.
So many people don't have that unconditional love, even though a parent's love is supposed to be a given. As I read about the children who have been given up (or abandoned) under Nebraska's Safe Haven Law, my heart just breaks. For these children and parents, it often appears that the love is conditional, which is horribly sad.
Under Nebraska's Safe Haven Law, any "minor" can be left at a hospital if the parent feels as though he or she can no longer care for the child. The problem is that there is a major loophole in the law -- the word "minor" was not defined; thus, as of today, 31 children have been abandoned at hospitals -- children of all ages, up to and including 18. One father abandoned nine of his 10 children. I completely understand the rationale behind these laws that many states have -- they're to prevent parents from just throwing away babies, as they're typically designed to protect infants.
I can only imagine how these children must feel. The infants and small children probably won't remember being left, but what about the older children? How must it feel to have your parent actually say that you are unwanted, and in some cases, truly unloved?
Some argue that these children now are able to be in a better place, which might be the case in some instances. Hopefully that's true. Hopefully these children now are in a place where they are loved, cared for, receive counseling, and know that they have a happier future. Hopefully these children will eventually know unconditional love.
This just underscores that I'm a very, very, very lucky and blessed person. I know that I am loved and can rest warm with that thought tonight. In fact, I think I'm going to call my mom and tell her how much she is loved.
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