Wait, isn’t Erin supposed to be frolicking near the Dead Sea, skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee like that Senator from Kansas, and checking out the bazaars in Bethlehem? Well, you’re right…I am supposed to be on my way (about to leave for the airport) to the Holy Land with my Mom where she was to take a religious Pilgrimage, and I was tagging along for the history and the free hummus I was promised at our hotel in Israel. Alas, y’all, life has dealt us its cards for September and it is not what we had expected.
I am currently playing 24 hour nurse to my mom, who fell (into the pool!) and broke her ankle last week bringing in lawn furniture before Hurricane Isaac swept its feeder bands up the east coast of Florida. She fell, she broke her ankle, she had surgery, and now after many teary phone calls to her pilgrimage buddies and too many flower deliveries to count, she is laid up in bed on plenty of Vicodin. And here I sit, awaiting her next need. My “me time” has been sliced exponentially and now the only time I feel calm is turning my phone off and hitting the mat for yoga once a day. 4:30 can’t come soon enough!
Taking care of my Mom is hard because I am one of four daughters making meals, changing ice, taking phone calls, going to doctor’s appointments, and dealing with incessant lectures on how I “can’t understand the pain”. Here’s to hoping I never have to! We’ve had lots of help from great friends coming to walk the dog, sit and chat, etc. and my little sister Colleen is my lifesaver, but I can’t lie- I’m pretty disappointed about the lack of Middle East I’ll be experiencing this month. The culture there is ancient and amazing, and I’m disappointed I won’t be able to take it in. But at least it’s only three weeks til I’m hiking the red rocks of Sedona- my little sister has even joined Dad, Stepmom and I on our quest for inner peace in the desert.
Life comes at you hard and fast, and to be honest, what this ordeal has taught me is to watch my damn footing on hikes through the woods in Asia and the deserts in India- one wrong step in you’re laid up for months in pain and anguish missing all the things you thought you’d be doing. Lesson learned, be careful out there y’all! One wrong move and you’re kissing the Holy Land goodbye in favor of How I Met Your Mother reruns and Edible Arrangements from Aunt Beth Ann, which, while delicious, satisfy no hunger inside this disappointed non-traveler.
erin on earth 