Best of 2009 Challenge - Trip

Blogger and social media guru extraordinaire, Gwen Bell posed a challenge to bloggers yesterday on twitter. She outlined 31 days of blog topics which all involve some reflection upon the past year. I loved the idea and today is the first day of the challenge. So, here is a post about my best trip in 2009. This was tough because I took a few really fun trips but one stands out as a milestone in a year full of ups and downs.

The best trip of 2009 was my summer trip to Island Park with my son. One of my dearest friends owns a cabin up there and she and her daughter were planning to spend the week there at the end of July. We pretty much crashed their week by inviting ourselves up there on a whim. You can read about the trip here. However, there was more to the story that I wasn't able to write about at the time.

Earlier this year, Ryan experienced some serious health problems. It was the most terrifying experience of my life. I've never felt more helpless. We are very lucky that we have good health insurance and were able to get Ryan excellent medical care when he needed it. His path to recovery was steady but slow.

What made the trip to Island Park remarkable was how happy and healthy my son appeared that week. He seemed like his old self for the first time in over six months. I kept watching him and found myself moved to tears on several occasions. I've always believed that this cabin is a magical place but this trip made my heart believe that everything was going to be alright after all.