June 10th 7 seven years ago was a perfectly gorgeous spring day. there was a brilliant blue sky filled with puffy cotton candy clouds. there was an abundance of giggles and questions and hurrying and gathering and much anticipated adventure. and then......shouts of they're here!! and we all stood in awe all as a loooooonnnnngggg shiny black limo made its way up our very steep hill and maneuvered its way around in our drive. and yes we all tried to chuckle discreetly as our chauffeur backed into the tree in our front yard :) there was no damage to fuss over. you see this was day one, the start of Devin's MAKE-A-WISH trip. he was in remission, doing excellent and we as a family were heading out to make some new memories to treasure (and to scrap :) dear friends of ours that we got to know in the hospital cause their daughter and Devin had the same thing, put Devin on the wish list so here we were, (they were on their wish trip when his services were, and to date she is doing great PTL!!) anyway Devin's wish was to go to the smokies in Tennessee. so a limo came and chauffeured us to the airport, along the way we were surprised with friends holding signs and banners wishing us well, seeing us off and celebrating with us. Devin was all smiles, and his eyes were huge as he watched the planes come and go as we waited our turn, and again as we took off and got to view those cotton candy clouds beside us and below us. we landed and got our rental car and headed for our cabin,(that was his main request, a cabin in the Smokies). when we got to the rental place and got our keys, I remember thinking it almost amusing that we were assigned the cabin named.......BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE, and yet I liked it, somehow it felt safe and comforting in a bizarre kind of way. I got pics of Devin by the sign and thought how true it really is, #1 there was an organization out there that cares enough about long term illness kids that they pay for them to spend time with their loved ones. #2 that we had friends who loved us so much and cared about us having this time they put our name in. #3 we were there as a whole family together after being pulled apart at the seams in many directions over the last 10 months. #4 DEVIN was in remission and except for a few meds to take each day we had a whole week to put away cancer and be NORMAL!!! the list could go on and on. that week we spent making a ton of memories, campfires and smores at the cabin, horse back rides, hiking to waterfalls, black bear jamboree, Boyd's bear barn, parrot mountain and gardens, feeding and holding the parrots, Dixie stampede, the aquarium, Dolly wood, drives in the mountains, comedy barn..............and because of being on a make a wish trip we were told to wear our pins stating that and often we received special treatment and favors because this was a kid that was fighting an enormous battle with the best soldiers and he was meant to be helped and honored in giving him and his family the best memories ever!!
looking back I think that name of our cabin was the most fitting ever that we could have had.....would we have chosen this path ? absolutely never!!! but......we were given 5 wonderful years and the memories to prove it, some parents haven't even had the gift of a child with breath. we were given a long enough remission time that we got in a blissful week of family memories....some families it was over almost before it started....life is usually way different than we ever planned, and there are days if I could MAKE-A-WISH and have it come true, I'd hold that son of mine tight one more time, I'd peek into heaven and see what he looks like at 12, and again the list goes on......instead this week I did strawberries with my sister, went on a mama/kids day with my in laws and this weekend were camping with friends......new memories are being made, though the picture will forever be as a smile with a missing tooth, were still abundantly BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE!!
