West Virginia hills

Last Friday Sophia and I took off to West Virginia for a week. My mother was diagnosed with uterine cancer and needed a hysterectomy so of course I wanted to be there for moral support and to help with recovery for a couple of days. The drive down went well, Sophie happily ignored her 9 o clock bedtime and bombarded me with questions for the first couple hours of the trip and then she passed out.

We spent the first few days just enjoying family time with my two sister, niece, and parents. I only go home once or twice a year and usually for only 2 or 3 days so it was nice to get some quality time with them. However, I will admit that my older sister and I quickly remembered why we could never share a room as teenagers. Sophie got along with her 2 year old cousin Ana very well, and was attached to my mother's hip from the second we walked through the door.

 

From left to right: Sophie, Kayla (baby sister), Anna (niece), me (getting lusciously tan), and Kari (bff for 17 years)

My mom's surgery went really well but the recovery was harder than I thought it would be. It was awful seeing her in so much pain. I am an extremely empathetic person to the point that seeing others hurting physically or emotionally brings me physical pain. Every time my mom cried I cried with her. I felt like such a failure as a daughter because instead of supporting her I was blubbering like a baby. Thankfully it didn't take her long to get through the worst of it because the next couple of days had her up and walking around fairly easily.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was that this is the longest time I have spent with Sophie since she was about a year old. Usually I work just about every day and the schedule she has with her dad is that we switch every 2-3 days. This means that I only see her a couple days in a row after work. I got her all to myself for 6 whole days. I really hate to admit that I haven't had my own daughter for 6 days in a row for over a year, but that's how it is.

Mini rant: Rarely can I complain about Sophie's schedule without someone looking at me like I'm an idiot. Especially my family. No one can seem to wrap their head around the fact that Sophie needs her mother AND her father. I can't imagine going more than a week without seeing her, and I know he can't either. Some people seem to think that he's not important in her life at all. Just because I personally can't stand him doesn't mean that she should be kept away because I want more time with her. If a kid's dad is willing to stick around and wants an active role in her life then people should be throwing a parade these days rather than acting like I'm a bad mother because I only have her 50% of the time.

End rant.

Sophie and her cousin Ana

Anyway, the trip went well and my mom is on a full road to recovery. The doctor will be calling her in the next couple weeks to let her know whether or not they need to start chemo. I'm crossing my fingers that the test results come out well and that this surgery will be the end of it. I can't wait to be back home in September, but for now I'm so glad to be in Fort Wayne again.

One last thing. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but my daughter refers to me as "banana". Sometimes, "goo goo banana". I don't know why, you would have to ask her. However, she felt it was appropriate to refer to my best friend (who is of mixed descent) as "Coco banana". Should I correct her? Because frankly we both thought it was hilarious.