With His Blessing

Posted byrandy@letters-to-rachel.memorialPosted inAdrift in the World, Forward Into the Unknown, Updates From the Abandoned PlanetTags:, , , , , , , ,

Dearest Rachel –

I’ve mentioned before that, like with my trip early in 2024, I – we, since Daniel is coming with this time around – have Dad’s blessing to head out on this trip. Despite the fact that his baseline health is noticeably worse than it was back then – what he’s been eased into is called “hospice,” after all, even if it doesn’t resemble what I think of by that term, and he isn’t dealing with an imminent threat to his life like a terminal illness (unless you count life and old age to be such) – he could just as easily be said to be on the mend from when he was in hospital, or even when he first arrived at the rehabilitation center.

The odds are good that he’ll still be here when we return, even though we all know intellectually that no one is guaranteed tomorrow – we still tend to assume it, and for good reason, as day follows day with little apparent change. His change is decidedly more apparent than most, yes, but at this point, it has seemed to have stabilized. With that in mind – and given his appreciation for the time I’ve thus far spent at his side (in part to try to make up for my impending departure) – it looks like we can actually start to focus on our upcoming trip.

And not a moment too soon, as our trip begins in barely twenty-four hours, when our Uber (I wonder how long it will be before that’s a word that borders on the public domain, like Kleenex and Xerox; that latter feels like it’s all but outlived the company that spawned it) arrives. Logan offered to drive us to the airport, but I thought it better to enlist a professional driver; besides, I’d rather not entrust my car to anyone else behind the wheel just yet. I’ve barely gotten to the point where I trust myself behind it yet.

The thing is, because of the events of the past month, we haven’t put a lot of effort into getting ourselves together, even with his blessing. It probably doesn’t help that even the part of the trip we’re most focused on, the first five days spent in and around Japan, feel like this is something we’ve just done barely a couple of months ago. Granted, we’ll be in very different neighborhoods while in Tokyo – and we intend to scope out the nearby area, even if it isn’t truly meant to be touristy – and Sapporo represents a fairly major item to cross off my Japan bucket list (and I do hope it lives up to the hype I’ve generated to myself and Daniel about it), but it’s still possible that having just been over there robs the place of a little bit of the wonder that might otherwise be involved in this particular trip.

On the other hand, having been there so recently also allows us to have a few incidentals that one wouldn’t ordinarily consider important, but are surprisingly useful, such as a well-loaded transit card and a little bit of leftover cash. Usually, after a year or two, whatever such foreign change exists in the house disappears into that strange nether world into which one tends to lose that odd sock in the laundry, but this time around, we have this on hand to bring along (and it was stored with my passport, too, which while vitally necessary for such a trip, I’d otherwise completely forgotten about).
Since Japan Air allows us two suitcases and a carry-on (actually, so did ANA, but we didn’t know that at the time, and that trip was only half as long as this one anyway, so we didn’t bother or have a need to), I’ve retrieved a smaller suitcase for most of my clothing. I don’t want to go too crazy, but given the northern arc we’ll be taking, I can’t be too careful in making sure to dress warmly. And as you can see, I’ve got this one mostly full.
Of course, I’ve barely even started on my main suitcase. What’s in here, in fact, is just what’s left over from Anime Central just last week that I haven’t gotten around to unpack. At least my computer bag is mostly ready, though, so I think it shouldn’t take too much effort to finish assembly, once I’m done with another load of laundry this morning.
Meanwhile, I’ve also dug up a second suitcase for Daniel, as well. To be sure, he’s not likely to need so much, as he packs fewer options than I do, but then again, he tends to want to bring certain pillows and blankets with him, as you well know. The two-suitcase allowance thus makes things perfect for him – although it does mean that it won’t be assembled until the very last minute, as he still will be using most of that bedding tonight as well.

All this stands to say that we’re not exactly ready to walk out the door just yet. And yes, I realize we still have a day to do so, even though it will have its own set of distractions – including the men’s Bible study (reduced to a get-together at a local restaurant for breakfast since this is a holiday weekend – geez, I’d forgotten all about that, too – which I haven’t been able to get to for a couple of weeks) and tonight’s church service (since we obviously won’t be able to go tomorrow). I’m going to have to insist to Daniel that we call it an early night tonight, too; it’s not yet seven in the morning as I’m typing this, but he’s still sound asleep, and wouldn’t be awake for the car that tomorrow would be well on its way. Just because I’m ready here and now doesn’t mean we’re ready.

So yeah, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and I can only hope we can pull ourselves together in time – this, I could imagine, would not have Dad’s blessing. According to Mom, he would have had everything laid out to go weeks ago. Then again, weeks ago, we were worrying about him in the rehab center, so if he’s at all displeased with our lack of preparation, he can shoulder his own measure of the blame. As for us, as long as we have everything together by this time tomorrow, we’ll be satisfied.

To that end, of course, I’ll ask you to keep an eye on us as always, honey. And wish us well, as we’re going to be needing it.

Published by randy@letters-to-rachel.memorial

I am Rachel's husband. Was. I'm still trying to deal with it. I probably always will be.

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