MamaBlogger365 – The Vacation… that Almost Wasnʼt by Shira Adler, Diva Mama
Rincon, Puerto Rico. When I say it properly the “Rs” roll deliciously off my tongue and a smile stretches across my face like the slow and easy island sunsets I witnessed on my vacation this past week. If I close my eyes I can still hear the ocean lapping playfully on the shore beckoning me from just beyond the wall of the stunning fifteen-room private villa where I spent the last five days with my boyfriend.
Though our location was quite close to the equator, I managed to avoid the intensity of the UV rays. I got just enough color to look great in white without increasing the chance to bring up every painful reminder of what it is to have typical Eastern-European Jewish skin prone to freckles, sunburn and possibly pesky melanomas.
There were no demands from alarm clocks, children or work. Instead my senses were filled with the feel of the satiny sand, ocean and pool temperatures like bath water and a very, very languid pace for everything.
I spent my time watching seagulls make lazy circles in the sky, geckos (not starring in commercials) merrily darting around and the villa cat enjoying her afternoon siestas on my stomach while I read Chelsea Handlerʼs book, My Horizontal Life.
It was paradise.
But rather than write something that could sound like any nice Fodors travel log, the actual story about my going away was that it was truly miraculous on a lot of levels…
What ended up being a transformative trip could have been an abysmal disaster. My 89-year-old grandfather in California was suffering from various ailments complicated by progressive dementia. A part of me wanted to do what I usually do when it comes to my family – drop everything, change my ticket so that I could run to my grandfatherʼs hospital bed. Add to that the fact that a newly born tropical storm, Emily, was bearing down on the Caribbean, close to Puerto Rico, it seemed the signs were signaling a NO-GO for this trip.
But how could that be when on the flip side there was such a potentially magical vacation waiting to be enjoyed?
A dear friend was going to let us use the seaside villa he owned and the only time frame it wasnʼt booked solid through December coincided exactly with the days we would be able to go.
The morning of the trip, we awoke after only 4 hours of sleep and started the latest round of our “should we go or should we cancel” discussion. My boyfriend, an aviation fanatic, was glued to the computer watching the progress of tropical storm Emily on the NOAA website. There was no question Puerto Rico was going to be hit by some nasty weather, the only issue – how much and was it worth it to go? True to his loving nature, my honey was also willing to cancel if Grandpaʼs situation became more dire.
With the packed bags taunting us from the doorway, we gave a final check of the forecast, the pendulum and our intuition. Resting on determination, hope and openness… we decided to go for it. And am I glad we did!
Had we succumbed to fear, pessimism or negativity we would have missed the vacation of a lifetime and I would have missed the chance to spend some quality time – alone with my guy – away from everything and everyone that keeps me busy 24/7, 365.
I have a very Polyanna-ish nature and this week it was put to the test. Let it not be said that a good attitude, open heart and amazing housekeeping staff can make the best of any situation. And who knows, maybe my intention had something to do with the storm dipping south of the island at the last minute, leaving us with only one funky, but still eminently enjoyable rain day.
All I know is that today, on my first day home, I shared details of my wonderful trip in a fifteen-minute, fully lucid conversation with my grandfather who is now resting comfortably at home thanks to my sister the hospice nurse, getting him admitted into her program.
And that was the true beauty and significance of this vacation. What a beautiful reminder that regardless of lifeʼs challenges, we can hold a space for incredible things to come into our experience. And in that space, the Universe will bless us accordingly.
BIO: By day Shira Adler is a cantor, spiritual vocalist, certified pastlife regressionist, voice-over artist, producer, performer, writer/blogger and mompreneur and by night… well, she is actually the same person at night though she does admit to wearing fuzzy socks when no one can see her and hiding a secret stash of Mallomars somewhere near her writing desk for those late night pick-me-ups. In, around, and between her various work activities, she is raising two beyond-the-spectrum children as a single mom (though lovingly gives a shout out to her best friend, editor and soulmate whom she considers the bees knees). Is it any wonder her website’s tag line is One Voice Many Paths? Seriously, look up the definition of a multi-tasking Mama and you will find her picture there. But when it comes to living a life of connection, faith and consciousness Shira is the gal to call — or if you’re fresh out of Mallomars — she’s always happy to give you one. For more information visit: ShiraAdler.com, read her blog at Diva-Mama.com; Social: Twitter (1DivaMama), Facebook (DivaMama1), Tumblr (not really sure, but the name is cute) and LinkedIn (because doesn’t everyone?).
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