"Pack your bags, we're going to Paris!"

It was early March and Gran (Molly) called me up to remind me that it was my Dad's birthday. In the conversation, she let me know that she was worried about a doctor's visit on the upcoming Monday where she thought she would receive bad news from a recent CT scan of her lungs. She said if it was bad news, "pack your bags we're going to Paris!".

Monday afternoon came and when I called her at home, I was happy to hear relief in her voice. Everything was fine! Her years as a nurse meant she had been exposed to Tuberculosis which would always end up showing up on CT Scans. The doctor reassured her that at 86, she was in great health.

"Let's go to Paris anyways!" I thought maybe she was just saying this from the relief and elation she was feeling after good results. But I also knew that she'd been talking about returning to Paris for the last 7 years. I called her a couple of days later and she had already told her sister Pat that we were going. I double and triple-checked that she was serious and when I was sure that she was, I started the process of planning the trip of a lifetime since she preferred that I take care of that rather than a travel agent.

A couple of weeks into the planning I was wired from the surreality of what I was doing and from the disrupted sleep (who can sleep when planning a trip like this??). It took another week or so to start pacing myself a bit more, but that's also because I managed to book all the important stuff quickly (flights, accommodations).

It's now April 5th and I pick her up at the airport in 12 days to start the journey. It still feels like I've been planning this for her and my alter ego in another universe. I think that I have no idea how big and fantastic this is going to be; how life-changing it may be. I may experience epiphany after epiphany, who knows!? 

I have taken great care to consider Gran's comfort and to research a ton of things ahead of time. So far the things that I find myself getting most excited about is the airplane ride in Air France Business Class ("I want to fly Air France! They give you champagne when you board." she said) and the cool new cabin that Air France has built, the thought of the Paris flea markets and our excursion over to London. These are things I can more immediately relate to or have experienced before in some manner.

12 more days!