Katie and I were talking just a few minutes ago, and she said this past weekend was a Gift. She was not tired, had a wonderful time, and felt more like her old self of a few months ago.
This morning, however, she said “Perky Catherine” has gone on vacation again, and “Tired Catherine” is back. Alex and I went out about an hour ago, and while we were gone she took a nap. It was only 11AM, but she was already tired….she had only been awake for a few hours.
I agree that God gave her a wonderful Gift of this weekend. A friend of hers and Alex’s from college came up for the weekend; Katie would have missed out on a lot of fun if she still felt as tired and weak as a few days ago. When Marissa arrived Saturday morning, we all went to a Blind/Visually Impaired get-together at Philips Lake (between Bangor and Ellsworth). It was held at Camp Capella this year; since the beginning of the yearly get-together 12 years ago, it’s been held at Camp Molly on Chimo Pond. The kids and I have been going since the weekends first started…..in fact, I was part of American Council of the Blind Maine Chapter when the idea was brought up, planned out, and acted on. Jack and Linda Beveridge were the true guiding forces behind making the annual camp-out work. They went shopping for ALL the food, secured the place to hold it, contacted the people for life guards, rappel masters, the bounce house for the little ones, etc. In fact, for the first few years, they were the ones who even did all the cooking!! It was only a few years ago that volunteers were brought in to cook so Jack and Linda could enjoy a weekend off, too. The get-together was changed from “Camp Molly” (a default name, since it was always called by the place it was held) to “Camp Jack and Linda Beveridge” out of appreciation and honor of the two who kept it running for so long. When I spoke with Jack on Saturday, he said this is the last year he and Linda would be organizing it. It’s getting too big and too much of a hassle with paperwork, etc, so the Iris Network is going to take it over and run/organize it. He said the final straw was dealing with the YMCA about securing Camp Molly again this year; they weren’t being cooperative for some reason, so he had to find another place….Camp Capella, which is a camp for disabled children. I’m glad I was able to be there for their last time of organizing it, as I was for the first one.
Anyway……Katie was able to “swim” in the lake (float on pool noodles, but at least she was in the water), see all our blind friends, and have a good time with Marissa, Alex, and Bobby. We stayed at Camp Jack and Linda for quite a few hours, then we stopped at Stephen King’s house since Marissa had never seen it (she lives in southern Maine) on our way to get ice cream at What’s the Scoop, the best ice cream place in the world, right in Bangor. Yummm….
When we got home, Katie was able to stay up pretty late talking with Alex, Marissa, and me. Since Bobby’s parents were out of town, they had a sort-of sleep over at Bobby’s house (Katie stayed home to be more comfortable) (Bobby’s parents knew about the sleep over) (I’ve never put two parenthetical phrases together like that!! ha ha….actually, I guess I’ve just done three of those phrases together!!)
The next morning, Sunday, Alex was playing bass in the church praise and worship band, so we all went to church together….Marissa went with us even though she hasn’t been in a church for years and years and years….. Katie felt wonderful all day. We all went out to lunch after church (Bobby met us there), then we went back to Bobby’s house so Marissa could see his dog play with a basketball---it’s really funny. Bobby has a motorcycle, so while we were over there, he gave Alex more pointers on how to drive it. Alex is a very good driver; he took me for a drive from the garage to the end of the driveway. No public roads were used in the making of the Blind Driver….that’s illegal!! So, he just stayed on the grass. We all had a nice time.
The best part, of course, was that Katie felt so good all weekend. This morning, however……
I’m now going to run out to the store and get my precious baby some Ramen Noodles. She wants some for lunch, and we ran out the other day. I love my sweet baby girl.
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