Last Hurrah in Phoenix, Tearful Goodbye
Apr. 30th, 2023 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerPhoenix late April travelog #7
At the airport - Sunday, 30 Apr 2023, 4pm
Today is our last day in Phoenix and the last day of our ten day vacation. Thankfully we aren't having to spend the whole day traveling home. Phoenix is just a 2 hour flight from San Jose, and our flight's not 'til 5pm. That left us the morning and part of the afternoon to continue enjoying the resort hotel and its waterpark.
Unfortunately the day was not all enjoyment. One of the friends we're traveling with on this leg of the trip needed to be rushed to the hospital at 2am. We met them there a bit after 6am when they were discharged and ready to come back to the hotel.
The sudden hospital trip was not totally a surprise. Our sick friend is dying. He's got a terminal illness that is rare at his age (similar to mine) but not unprecedented. He may have a few months left... or a few weeks... or a few days. We planned this trip together as a celebration of life, all four of us knowing that it may be his last.
Once back from the hospital the two guys needed to sleep it off— one, because he was recovering, and the other because he'd been awake all night at his husband's side wondering, "Is this it?" Hawk and I gave them space and used the resort's facilities. We took a morning soak in a hot tub at 8, went out to the wave pool and the lazy river in the waterpark at 9, and came back in for quick showers & packing at 10 to check out by 11am.
We stayed in touch via text as morning progressed to afternoon. Our friends were still asleep. We used the wave pool and lazy river again after 12. David was up by 1 and asked us to come spend time with him before leaving. We did.
It's tough for David. A loved one is being taken from him too soon. This trip was just what he needed— a chance to relax and de-stress, and for both him and his husband to have genuine fun— until things turned south last night. This unplanned reminder that the end is soon is a dress rehearsal of sorts. And it's not clear whether that makes the real thing that's coming soon easier or harder.
At the airport - Sunday, 30 Apr 2023, 4pm
Today is our last day in Phoenix and the last day of our ten day vacation. Thankfully we aren't having to spend the whole day traveling home. Phoenix is just a 2 hour flight from San Jose, and our flight's not 'til 5pm. That left us the morning and part of the afternoon to continue enjoying the resort hotel and its waterpark.
Unfortunately the day was not all enjoyment. One of the friends we're traveling with on this leg of the trip needed to be rushed to the hospital at 2am. We met them there a bit after 6am when they were discharged and ready to come back to the hotel.
The sudden hospital trip was not totally a surprise. Our sick friend is dying. He's got a terminal illness that is rare at his age (similar to mine) but not unprecedented. He may have a few months left... or a few weeks... or a few days. We planned this trip together as a celebration of life, all four of us knowing that it may be his last.
Once back from the hospital the two guys needed to sleep it off— one, because he was recovering, and the other because he'd been awake all night at his husband's side wondering, "Is this it?" Hawk and I gave them space and used the resort's facilities. We took a morning soak in a hot tub at 8, went out to the wave pool and the lazy river in the waterpark at 9, and came back in for quick showers & packing at 10 to check out by 11am.
We stayed in touch via text as morning progressed to afternoon. Our friends were still asleep. We used the wave pool and lazy river again after 12. David was up by 1 and asked us to come spend time with him before leaving. We did.
It's tough for David. A loved one is being taken from him too soon. This trip was just what he needed— a chance to relax and de-stress, and for both him and his husband to have genuine fun— until things turned south last night. This unplanned reminder that the end is soon is a dress rehearsal of sorts. And it's not clear whether that makes the real thing that's coming soon easier or harder.
