From one storm to another

We left last Saturday, for Maine, my daughters, my grandchildren, and I.  We missed the storm, and Irene was almost a no show in Maine.
We didn't mind the first day being gray and rainy, because the weatherman promised sunshine the rest of the week.
And he delivered.

We had a marvelous week.....the weather was perfect.  The pond we stayed on was pristine.  Cell phones didn't work.  There was no cable TV.  There was just us.  Family.  Time to relax, time for quiet.

We love each other, we annoy each other.  We are critical and tough in our dealings with each other,  but  our loyalty runs deep.
We swam, and kayaked, and basked on the raft in the sun.  We cooked, and ate, and went running, played games.  We went on a tour of the area, and one day we went to Acadia.  We took naps.
It was a wonderful time.  There is nothing more important to me than my family.
I have been talking about this vacation for months, anticipating it.  It was every bit as good as I imagined........family dynamics, cranky kids, and all.
And later, not today, I will show you more pictures, cause I have a LOT of pictures.

But first I have to tell you how love can sometimes lead us wrong.

During the week that I was gone, I talked to DH on the phone.  The connection was lousy, we were way out in the woods.  He sounded tired, he said he was tired.  A couple of times, I asked him how come he wasn't very talkative.  He said he was tired.
Finally on Friday night, after hanging up the phone with him, I realized that the nagging feeling I had pushed away was not going anywhere.  So I told my daughters I wanted to leave a day early.
Halfway across the Massachusetts turnpike, I got the call.
His brother got wind that he was not acting right, and he muscled my uncooperative husband to the ER.
I was 5 hours away, when my brother in law called me back and  told me that DH had a stroke, several days ago, and had been trying to hide his symptoms from everyone.
Why you ask?
Because he didn't want to ruin my vacation.  The one I'd waited for all year.

I'm not sure I will ever understand this.  I know that by the time I got to the hospital at 9pm last night, I was just relieved to see him, and to know that he was stable, that he was going to be ok.
I did tell him that as soon as he was better, I wanted to slap him.
He said, " You work so hard, I wanted you to have your vacation."

Now we are waiting for tests to be run.  MRI, echocardiogram, etc, etc
And then on to recovery.
And another brand new perspective.
I told ya, that's what it's all about.
Perspective.

I'm trying to hold on to this one.