The only way to describe December is that it wasn't anything like what anyone had planned. It was nice for the random Christmas festivities that occurred throughout the month, but overall I'm glad it's behind us.
It started when my dad and stepdad were supposed to come down for a long weekend over the second weekend of the month. It was my grandmother's 91st birthday and a chance to enjoy warmer weather. They wound up postponing the trip to February for Tatum's birthday because my grandma decided she was going to fly up with us for Christmas two weeks later, only that didn't happen either.
The week before Christmas, my grandma got a bad cold which can easily, and has in the past, put her into the hospital. Although she was on the mend, our whole family and her doctor thought it would be unwise for her to travel, given that 80% of people traveling during the holidays end up with a head cold or infection of some sort after the fact. So she cancelled her flight.
The day before we were supposed to hop on a plane to spend 9 days with my family for the holiday, we received some terrible news. Brian's older brother, Steven, had passed away suddenly. Steve was a type 1 diabetic and had been suffering from a stomach bug for the two days prior. As a diabetic, anytime someone can't keep fluid or food in their system it can be highly life threatening. Thursday morning, December 20, 2018, Brian's dad went to check on Steve after taking him food and drinks and checking on him the night before, only to find Steve in his apartment already gone.
Brian came home from work that day and worked from home the next day while we altered our plans. We decided to still fly to Maryland the next day, but we would leave the day after Christmas to fly to Salt Lake City in preparation of Steve's services.
The trip from BWI to SLC was nothing short of a nightmare. We had four suitcases full of clothes for 10 days and Christmas presents, a toddler, and a layover in Dallas. We arrived safely in Dallas, only to have our flight to SLC delayed over and over again before it was finally cancelled 5 hours later. Because we had already flown a portion of our trip, the airline said they couldn't help us over the phone and only an attendant at our current airport could help. Brian waited in line for 3 hours until after midnight while I tried to get Tatum to sleep on me before he got to the desk. Once there, they tried many options before finally booking us onto the most feasible flight path to get us there before the funeral services. We had to go get our bags and recheck them, where we learned they had been sitting out on the carts in the thunder and lightning storm that had cancelled our flight, and were soaked, ALL OF THEM, completely through.
When we went to recheck them, the woman at the airline had the audacity to tell me one of our bags was over weight limit. I probably gave her a look that could have killed her on the spot and responded with, "Well sweetie they weren't like that when we checked them back in Baltimore. Perhaps it's the fact that they got drenched sitting on YOUR runway for hours, or maybe they magically grew in size while I slept on your airport floor for the last 4 hours with a toddler. Either way, I think you can let this one slide." And she did.
We got on a 6 am flight to Denver, where we had a 6 1/2 hour layover, and then sat on the airplane for an hour while they tried to reroute our plane to avoid a storm around Salt Lake City. After over 31 hours of travel, we arrived in Utah with four soaking wet bags, three exhausted and smelly people, and no patience. Brian's mom picked us up, pumped us full of In-N-Out, and got us safely home where she started washing and drying all our clothes and my angelic sister-in-law let me borrow dry clothes and gave Tatum a bath while Brian and I showered. All I can think is, "Imagine how screwed we would have been if we weren't going somewhere with a free washer and dryer." I don't think I'll ever have to convince Brian to fork out a few hundred bucks more for that nonstop Delta flight ever again.
The next day was Steve's viewing and the following day was the funeral. Kevin and Brian both spoke and had beautiful remarks. We laughed, we cried, we mourned, and we'll always miss Steven until we see him again. He leaves behind three beautiful children and it's not going to be an easy time without him anytime soon. But we know he's in a better place, free of his fight with diabetes and other of life's struggles. We were surrounded by so many family and friends all weekend, we are so blessed for the love and support we received, and especially the moments that lightened up the hard times.
We flew home on New Year's Eve, were just getting our bags when the clock struck midnight, and we had never been happier to be home. The day after we got home, we took down the Christmas tree and all our decorations. I think Brian and I were both so done with the month and the way the year ended that we just wanted it all put away and out of mind. Being in Florida helps some, because we aren't reminded so strongly of the mess that Christmas was this year since the weather is usually pretty warm and feels like springtime.
For a week and a half after we got home, Tatum would wake up at 3 AM and be awake for about two hours. She would just talk and laugh and when we went in to tuck her in, she would just sit back up five minutes later and keep chattering. We kept making jokes that Steve had come to check on her and visit and she just had so much to say she couldn't possibly go to sleep.
2018 was full. Full of love, adventure, excitement, hardships, frustrations, successes, beautiful triumphs, and bittersweet endings. We traveled 7/12 months, family came to see us multiple months, we bought our second house, Brian started his MBA, we went to four of our best friends' weddings, and we more than took advantage of Florida residency in our Disney World passes. My baby became a toddler.
We're excited for what 2019 holds for our family.
