Unfortunately our summer didn’t end well. We were in a fight against time to get my dad as healthy as we could.  He worked so hard in physical therapy to get strong enough to travel to Jamaica for our family vacation and my cousin’s wedding. A HUGE deal. Mom left for New Jersey early because my Grandma didn’t feel well. We flew in my aunt to stay with her while we were gone. But by the time Dad and I joined her, Grandma needed to be admitted to the hospital.  We tried to stay optimistic and pushed back their flight, but with more tests we began to understand how sick she really was.  She had suffered a heart attack sometime recently and was having congestive heart failure.  What?!  The pneumonia wasn’t helping..  Mom and I’d become hospital buddies, so I hated to leave them.  With a heavy heart I said goodbye and left the next morning to meet up with the rest of our family in Jamaica.  With just a flicker of hope that Grandma would be stable enough surrounded by the best care that Mom would feel comfortable to leave with Dad to meet up with us.  I knew how bad she wanted to have one last family vacation, before Dad needed to have a major surgery.

Jamaica was bittersweet. Mom and Dad didn’t make it and we felt guilty being there without them.

It was a treacherously steep, long and bumpy ride to these amazing falls.  But the hike was worth the adventure!

I took Mom’s spot during our day with the dolphins. Of course my nieces and nephew kept us busy and made it fun.

Then halfway through the week Mom tells us that Grams passed away. We were shocked. You never expect it to happen that fast. She only retired one year ago and was always on the go, active and still living by herself. It was just a few months away from her 90th birthday.

Mike and Dana’s wedding was beautiful. It was super hot and humid that day and boy did we sweat. The reception was set among these amazing ruins.