My Aunt Helen also flew down from New Jersey to celebrate with us. We took mom to a lovely lunch “on the Avenue” in Delray Beach on Friday and then Debby treated mom to an afternoon at the nail salon in preparation for a photo shoot at St. John’s Boutique the following day.

Friday afternoon, Patty, Adi, and I picked up my Aunt Helen at the airport. Later in the evening, we all got together at Debby and Sam’s place for a casual dinner.

Saturday, we went to the new Worth Avenue in Palm Beach and visited St. John’s, where my sister Debby works. She was able to organize a Christmas photo shoot for my mom and my aunt. We had lunch at lovely cafe outside prior to the photo shoot.

Here’s the video of the photo shoot:

Late Saturday afternoon Patty threw a party at her and Joe’s place. My mother had a great time visiting with friends and family, and especially spending time with her youngest great grandchild, Annalise Lauar. Here’s a short video of us singing Happy Birthday to her (apologies for the  bad lighting in the video):

Patty and I gave my mom a Kindle so she could read with the luxury of:

VERY LARGE FONTS.

Debby stole a picture from my mom’s house so that she could have it re-framed. It had always been one of my mom’s favorites. Mom guessed what it was (because of the frame). Here’s a (dark and wobbly) video of her opening this gift:

My mom put together an individualized biography of her life for each of her children. She spent quite a bit of time on this amazing gift that will be cherished by all of us forever. Our brother Jim received his book during a previous visit with my mom but she gave us ours at her party.

Check out the photos from My Mom’s Weekend:

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Romeo with his Grandmother

I just got back from a week in Florida visiting my mother and sister Patty. It would have been nice for all us siblings to be together but hopefully during the holidays that will be possible. It also would have been nice had I had more time to call local friends and spend some time with them. It was a great trip and although it was super hot (in the 90s everyday), the humidity was slightly less than it normally would be so it was a pleasant change from New York… oh I mean Seattle.

One of the best parts was suprising my mother who didn’t know we were coming. My mother would tend to worry about what to cook and preparing many things in advance. Because we didn’t want her to do this, my sister and I didn’t tell her about the fact that I was coming. She arrived a day earlier than I did and my mom was surprised when I arrived at the door with our son…. Romeo. We then surprised her a second time by telling her that Adi wasn’t able to come but he then arrived on the Tuesday. I think mom was amply distracted from her daily routine, which has become even more limited because of her eyesight deteriorating in her left eye. We did get that eye treated but we’ll have to wait a month to determine if the laser treatment performed will help. Until then… no driving. But she’ll have help from some women who she found out about via recommendations.

The trip was bittersweet as I arrived on my father’s birthday. We especially wanted to be there for my mom and not have her be alone on this day. She seems to be handling things fairly well 8 months after his death but I have been trying to encourage her to travel more and would like to organize a trip for her to see her hometown of Honesdale, PA and spend some time in NJ with my aunt Helen and Uncle Tom. She wasn’t averse to the idea but wants to wait.

One of the great highlights of the trip was bringing Romeo. I had been all worried

Jetset Romeo

about the experience, especially Jetblue checking all of his papers, etc. The truth is that they never even knew I had a pet with me. He whimpered a bit and I did take him out toward the end but none of the flight attendants saw this. We used a homeopathic travel anxiety remedy on the way down and a prescribed sedative (chicken flavored) from the vet on the way back. The latter worked much better but he still was annoyed at the end because what should have been a 2.5 hour flight turned into a 4.5 hour flight.

Aside from the flight, he seemed to love Florida. He loved the grass and finally started peeing outside (as he prefers soft surfaces to hard for number 1 and this is not easy to find in NY). He was very animated in both my mother’s house and the place next door that she takes care of (for snowbirds) and we stayed in. There were a few accidents but overall, he was fine. He was enamored with the discovery of his reflection in the mirror since my mother has floor-to-ceiling mirrored closets. This was fun to watch.

Also great was his swimming. We took him to dog’s beach and he started paddling even before he hit the water. Here are a couple of videos:

And here’s a second one:

All in all it was a great trip and good to see my mother for an extended period of time. Here’s a slideshow of the trip. Enjoy!

Let me know what you think of Romeo’s swimming ability. Comment below!

Related posts:

1. An Evening With Mom
2. Romeo in Action at His Second Dachshund Meetup in Soho

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