Day 45- Vacation
After Shayna passed, we realized that we had to be strong for Kayla (and for each other). Kayla’s vacation was cut short by Shayna’s passing and we thought it a good idea for the three of us to just spend a lot of time together getting used to the trio we have become with Shayna always (always, always) there with us in spirit. So, today I wake up in a hotel room in Port Clinton, OH and we’re headed out to Put-In-Bay for the day.
I wake up to what is a familiar scene. A hotel room, Ty and I in one bed and a bed next to us. We have traveled a lot with the girls. But this time, someone is missing. It’s just Kayla in the other bed. I immediately begin to cry. The girls were the reason for our vacations. Taking them places, sharing new experiences. How are we going to do this without Shayna? I start to pray. I’m going to need help getting through this. I ask for a sign. Yesterday, I found a dime on the floor of the Student Counseling Center at UT. I have heard you should ask for specific signs. So, today I’m bold. I ask to find a dime today. I don’t expect it will happen. I don’t even share my request with Ty and Kayla. I’m still a skeptic, but I’m a hopeful skeptic.
I get out of bed, do my meditation and then take a three mile walk to clear my head. It’s a glorious day. The temperature is going to be in the upper 70s. There is zero percent humidity. It’s actually a little chilly. Ty and Kayla get up and we inquire about the shuttle to take us to the ferry. The shuttle is running late. We’re going to miss the ferry we wanted to take. Should we drive? We decide to just wait for the shuttle. Finally it arrives. Ty and Kayla climb in the seat behind the driver. I could fit on that row, but I decide to sit on the third row seat. As I climb into the van, my eye looks down on the floor and there, underneath the seat Ty and Kayla are sitting in is…. a dime. I am amazed. I share my story with them and they are both amazed, too. Now I wish I had told them about my prayer earlier. Had we driven to the ferry I would not have found this dime. Had I sat on the seat with Ty and Kayla I would not have found this dime. Things had to be just as they were for me to find it.
We take the ferry over to Put-In-Bay and we have an amazing day. I keep thinking “We should have done this before, with Shayna.” But, there was no time. We have taken at least one vacation every year since the girls were little. We just ran out of time. We have Lake Erie fish for lunch (Kayla and I had walleye wraps, Ty had perch tacos). We have a couple of mojitos. We explore the Crystal Cave. We visit the butterfly house. We do some shopping. We have crepes from a little crepe stand. Anything Kayla wants to do. As the day is wrapping up, we have an hour to kill before the ferry arrives. We choose a bar to sit in that happens to be playing a radio station. I’m sipping on a margarita paying no attention to the radio, just talking with Ty and Kayla when something catches my ear. The DJs are talking about playing a special version of “See You Again” which is the song we played at Shayna’s celebration and I have designated as “our song” now. This version is the version without Wiz Khalifa. I have never heard it before and didn’t even know it existed. As the song plays the tears flow from my eyes. We are out making new memories without our lovable, sweet Shayna. But, I know I won’t have to wait to tell her about it because she is there with us. The day began with a sign from Shayna and this is the close to our time on the island with another sign from her.
