Best Christmas Gift Ever!

On the day of my last post, December 22, Steve and I were docked in Indian Harbor Beach and I wasn't feeling particularly festive. Jake wasn't doing well and we were going to have a relatively low-key Christmas. 

A few hours later, our lives changed in the best possible way!

 Steve and I were relaxing after dinner. I was probably playing a game on my phone and he was talking to his brother, David, on his.

My phone rang and it was Jessie and Will. I stepped out into our cockpit so I wouldn't disturb Steve's conversation and Jessie told me that they had just received a call from the adoption agency they'd been working with, and that they had been selected by a birth mother to be adoptive parents of a baby boy who had been born in Florida the day before. And he could be picked up on Tuesday!! I started jumping around, repeating "Oh my God!" and holding back sobs. For a moment, I thought: 'Wait! What if they're just kidding me and I'm behaving like a goof for nothing? " So I asked them if they we're just tricking me, just to be sure. Of course, that was a ridiculous question, and they couldn't fathom why I would think such a thing, but they assured me that this was really happening and that they would leaving Maryland in the morning!

Meanwhile, based on my behavior, Steve was thinking that either something very good or very bad had happened and I finally opened the door to tell him the news. 

Steve and I knew that the adoption application process had been completed and approved and that a baby could be placed at any time, but somehow we had expected at least a month's notice. Thankfully we were stateside and Starry Night was safely docked so we were available to help, as needed.

Jessie and Will ran to the local 24-hour Walmart that night to buy a car seat, bottles, diapers and blankets and the next day Steve and I picked up a few other essentials: bassinet, onesies, footie pajamas. Meanwhile, we started trying to figure out logistics.

The baby was born in Tampa, and Jessie and Will would need to stay in Florida for an indefinite length of time while the paperwork was processed - typically 7 business day or so. They decided to bring their dog, Tito, since they would be away from home so long. 

Jessie and Will arranged to stay at my parents' house after picking the baby up and Steve offered to stay on Starry Night with Tito and Jake, since he had been under the weather with a cold anyway. 

To reduce Jessie and Will's driving time on Monday and also minimize the drive to Tampa on Tuesday, we decided that Jessie, Will and I would meet in Jacksonville on Monday night where we would spend the night with my bestie and her husband. I left Jacksonville the next morning with Tito, while the new parents drove to Tampa to pick up their son, Oscar.

Their drive to Nana and Pop-pop's went smoothly, although it took twice the normal time since there were frequent stops for feeding and diaper changes.

 

First Road Trip: Three Days Old

Our plan had been for me to drop Tito off with Steve at Starry Night and then meet the new family at my parents' house in Palm Beach Gardens. 

As I made the trip from Jacksonville to Indian Harbor Beach, I felt my lymph nodes swelling and throat starting to get sore and realized that I had caught a cold too. I drove down to my parents' anyway so that I could drop off the stuff we had bought for Oscar, and at least see him, even though I knew that I would have to mask and keep my distance.

Jessie and Will arrived a few hours after I did, and the ecstatic great-grands got plenty of snuggles. 💕

Great-Nana and Pop-pop are in Heaven

I spent the night there but felt worse the next morning, so Steve picked me up and he and I spent Christmas day quarantined with Tito and Jake on Starry Night.

 Tito Getting Cozy with Steve on Starry Night

Tito Feeling a Little Insecure

Jessie, Will and Oscar stayed at Nana and Pop-pop's for 5 days, while Steve and I waited for our symptoms to abate. I had intended to be at my parents' to help out with meal preparation, shopping, and dish duty but they managed without me :) In retrospect, I think it was perfect that my parents got to spend time alone with their granddaughter, grandson and precious baby Oscar.

Oscar's First Sponge Bath

After a nice visit in South Florida, Jessie and Will decided to move to an Airbnb in Melbourne, a few minutes away from the marina where Starry Night was docked. They expected it would be at least five more days before they were allowed to take Oscar out of Florida and Will had a previously planned trip to a conference in California with some of his students from Towson University, so Jessie would stay at the Airbnb with Oscar until the clearance to leave was received and Will returned from the conference.

The house had been beautifully remodeled, was immaculate, and was perfect for their needs. I had finally recovered from my cold, so I stayed with Jessie and Oscar while Will was gone. My time in purgatory was over, and I reveled in the joy of grandmotherhood. There is nothing quite like the weight of a newborn napping on your chest, the subtle, sweet smell of baby, and the velvet skin of your cheek brushing against theirs and I am so blessed to have been able to be there in that moment.

In My Glory

Steve, meanwhile, visited when he could but primarily continued dog-duty, spent time with his parents and managed to fabricate and install a new trampoline for Starry Night. 

A Short Respite from Boat Life

Steve Installs the New Trampoline - Another Sewing Project Well Done!

Life is full of joy but also brings times of sorrow, and we had another significant life event during this time. It was not unexpected but was painful, nevertheless.

Steve and I said goodbye to our good buddy, Jake, who has been with us for more than 15 years. Jake was a good-natured fellow who liked people well enough and especially loved other dogs (and food!). He was also pretty independent and sometimes downright butt-headed.

More than that, though, Jake was joyful.  He was the embodiment of ebullience. 

During his three years with us on the boat, he embraced his inner “potcake” (the Bahamian name for a mixed breed dog) and was a true Bahamas dog. He loved dinghying to the islands every morning and evening, wading in to the cool water, searching for chicken bones and running along the beaches.

Even these last few years, strangers watching him walk by on arthritic legs never failed to comment on what a happy dog he was, his joy still plain to see.

Jake Enjoying the Starry Night Lounge

All Paws on Deck

Dinghy Dog Ready for Action

        
  

Morning Walks on Islands Rock!

Evening Walks are Pretty Good Too!

            

  

My Buddy and I En Route to Shore

What a Trooper! 

Jake's New Friend, Atlas, at marina in Indian Beach Harbour

I miss Jake, and the joy he brought to my life every day. I’ll be forever thankful for our 15+ years together.

By this time, Will had returned from California and he and Jessie were cleared to take Oscar home. It was decided that I would drive to Baltimore with Tito in their car, and they would rent a car and drive separately with Oscar. I would also stay in Baltimore until the end of January to help out, since Jessie had just started a new job at University of Maryland and was not eligible for parental leave.

We took the drive in two days, stopping in SC the first night and then getting an early start the second day to be sure that we passed through NC before a winter storm came through.

Tito and I arrived around dusk that evening, where the remnants of the previous winter storm were still evident. After two weeks on Starry Night and two days in the car, Tito was glad to be home in his own backyard!

Happy to Be Home!

Jessie, Will and Oscar arrived a couple of hours later and Tito got to meet the new family member for the first time. It was very interesting to observe the progression from: "What is this new thing?" to "I want to lick it!" to "Why is it making that noise, and why aren't you helping him?" to "Wait a minute...what about me? I want to sit in your lap too!".

What Is This??

Poppa and His Boys

Merry Christmas!!

The month of January flew by, with my time filled with dog-walks, diaper changes and rediscovering the miracle of life through grandma eyes. Steve was focused on provisioning for our upcoming trip to the Bahamas and completing the remaining boat projects before our departure. 

He fabricated a new sailbag, and repaired a couple of tears in our mainsail. These projects were fairly challenging for a number of reasons, the sheer size of the objects being one. The sailbag, in particular, was more difficult than Steve expected. From the outside it looked relatively simple but as he disassembled the old bag to use as a pattern for the new, he realized that there was a lot of hidden complexity: stiffeners, reinforcements, and straight pieces which needed to be mated with curved pieces. In addition, the fabrics and thread for boat products are quite heavy-duty and difficult to work with. He did a great job, though, and I am quite impressed with the finished products.

Repairing a Rip in the Mainsail

Completed Sailbag! Steves 's Most Ambitious Sewing Project to Date

I returned to Florida on February 2nd and we finished preparations while waiting for a promising window for the crossing to the northern Bahamas. Last year we skipped the Abaco Islands and did not have any luck finding lobster in the Berry Islands or Exumas, which was quite a disappointment to Steve so this year we decided to spend time exploring some of the smaller islands in the Abacos. Our friends Jan and Mark - also avid lobster hunters - would join us for the crossing and several weeks of exploration.

Stay tuned! You never know what's around the next corner!