Dekkers birthday has been traditionally followed with a post-bedtime golf cart ride. This year, however, not only could we not swing it in his birthday specifically, but Brady also has a harder time using the golf cart than he used to. He still uses it and is terribly grateful for it, don’t get me wrong! But going for long rides recreationally is harder on his body. Brady has virtually no abdominal muscles left. So it’s very hard to hold himself up in something like that. For a short ride to get from point A to point B, it’s great. But much more than that gets pretty painful. I digress.
So this evening, I took Dekker for his ride. Everyone else was in the camper. Babies were tucked. Campsite put away for the night. We grabbed our garbage, since we missed the cutoff for the campground garbage run, and drove it up to the bins. Once we were there, Dekker hopped out of the cart to dump the garbage. He said he was probably warmer than I was so he was happy to do it. My sweetheart.
He got back into the cart and snuggled under the blanket I had brought for us before I got us back on the road on our way to Bells Beach. And he just leaned over the wrapped his arm around me really tight and intentionally. He put his head on my shoulder and thanked me for bringing the blanket for us to share. It may sound small, but I felt enormous. I said I knew he had hoped to go on this ride with dad, and that it was ok, and it didn’t hurt my feelings. I told him I was sorry they couldn’t go together this year, and I thanked him for being so kind to me. He told me he had always really enjoyed going with dad, but he was happy to go with me too. I loved our little snuggle as we drove so much.
We drove to Bells and took in the sky. It was gorgeous and peaceful.
And then we LIMPED our cart back to our site, barely making it back before the battery crapped out on us 😅 It was an adventure, that’s for sure! We laughed so hard the entire way back 🤣 it was hilarious, and not a memory I will forget. As we hurled our bodies forward to the tune of “Stayin Alive” trying to encourage the cart to keep moving, I felt so incredibly grateful to do something so dumb and fun with my kid.
Goodness, Dekker, I love you. Thank you for your softness and your love. I had a blast with you this evening. Thanks for coming with me 💜