Atlantis Planning

My current vacation planning task is well underway. For over a year my husband and I have been talking about taking my parents on a vacation to celebrate their 60th birthdays. Then, my maternal grandmother's health started declining, and we put the idea on the back burner as I knew my mother would not leave my grandmother for a vacation in her condition.

Sadly, my grandmother passed away on Easter Sunday. It was not unexpected, but still very difficult for my family, and especially for my mother. She and my grandma were truly best friends. For the last 7 years my mom has cared for my grandmother daily. She has shown her such love and patience and kindness and loyalty. Their relationship is truly touching.

After Grandma's passing, my husband and I started talking about and praying about taking my parents on a vacation again. I kept dreaming about it, and in each dream my grandma was encouraging me to take my mom on this trip soon. I really have such a peace about the decision to go ahead with a trip. My grandmother was always ready to go anywhere on a moments notice. She loved to travel and do new things and my mom is just like her. I know my grandma would love that we are planning a trip as a family now. My mom needs something to which she can look forward. My grandmother would be thrilled that we are doing this.

So the time came to really start planning. My husband an I sat down and worked out a budget for a trip, and then I spent a few days looking at various vacation options that fit the budget. Among the choices were 5 nights in Aruba, a week in Orlando, a week in the Dominican Republic, a week in Texas, and 5 nights at the Atlantis.

Though we had NEVER talked about it, I knew deep down that the Atlantis would absolutely be my mom's first choice. She LOVES lazy rivers, she and my dad love beaches, tropical destinations, sunshine, touristy places, and lots of activities.

The problem was that the Atlantis is a very expensive destination. Not only are the rooms incredibly expensive for average accommodations, but the food is astronomically expensive also. In order to make this trip possible, we would need to share a room with my parents.

I know most young adults want to curl up and die at the thought of this, but we've done it before for long weekends with my parents, and we've all survived. We don't spend much time in our rooms, so we figured it was worth the trade-off of getting to take them somewhere we thought they would love.

So the decision was made. We would call my parents and tell them the news the following night... That we were taking them on vacation! We decided to present them with several options that were in our budget, and let them pick.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about how the big phone call went, and about some bumps and surprises along the way!