I was more than a little nervous about getting Patrick and myself to Seattle on my own. Especially on the heels of several days of being the only grown-up and therefore not having any time away from Patrick to pack. So, when an opportunity for help for me came, we took it.
Help came in the form of a college student named Bailee. Bailee loved children with special needs. Was born for them. And so, she is studying special education and, at every opportunity, she provides respite care for families of special children. Bailee offered to buy a ticket to Seattle so she could have a little vacation, and we helped with her other expenses as repayment for some help with Patrick.
Still, as Bailee didn’t arrive till Monday night, I relied on my awesome little sister Marcy to come and help me get the house in order that day.
Then, after Marcy was on her way and dinner was over, I packed some, then stopped to change Patrick’s dressing and put him to bed.
That’s when we found that the repair done on Patrick’s line just before Brian left town was leaking. So we made a run up to the hospital instead of going to bed. It was past midnight by the time we made it back home. And it was well past 2 by the time I finished packing.
I slept with my clothes on and 3 alarm clocks set because we had to be up at 6 a.m. to be ready to go. I got Patrick dressed, meds given and packed on ice. We loaded up the car, and then Brian’s dad came to drive our car to the airport.
I always feel like such a spectacle in the airport with our 3 suitcases, diaper bag, carseat, stroller, TPN, and laptop bag. And that’s packing as lightly as possible. Thankfully, Bailee took care of Patrick as I took care of the rest of getting us there. And the airport was uncrowded. Security went fairly smoothly, though Patrick did get a false positive for explosives when they swiped his backpack and had to be rechecked.
Still, we made it to the gate with just enough time and enjoyed a pretty uneventful flight. Patrick was even tired enough that once the novelty of having Bailee there to play with had worn off, he curled up in my lap and went to sleep. I was so tired that I remember looking at the clock when we hit turbulence and thinking that at that rate, I wouldn’t sleep at all… and the next thing I knew 45 minutes had passed and we were landing.
Brian was waiting for us at the gate in Seattle. He’d left North Carolina at 4 a.m. in order to land in Seattle before us and therefore be allowed in the terminal.
So we gathered up our mountain of luggage, picked up our rental car (Thank goodness for minivans!), and drove to the hotel where, after a yummy lunch at the chowderhouse down the street, Patrick and I curled right up and went to sleep.
Patrick Hoopes 