Disappointment and Sadness are a part of this, too.

This afternoon I told Tommy that I would probably have to take my iPad with me when I went on my trip.  He replied, "Where are you going?"  I thought he was kidding since we've been talking about it now for three weeks, so I said, "Ummm.... go look at the map on the Seminary room wall!"

He still wasn't getting it, so I told him that each of those little tags was someplace that I was stopping and that I would be leaving June 10th, right about when school got out and getting back on Oct 10th.  Then I heard a horrible sound: an 8 year old sobbing his heart out when he realized that Grandma was going to be gone ALL SUMMER!!

Oh dear.  I called him to me and held him on my lap for about 10 minutes while he cried about me being gone for so long.  I kept trying to explain: "I'll be leaving a while after Papa's birthday, then I'll miss my birthday, Mommy's birthday, Nick's birthday, then Daddy's and Maddison's birthdays, then I'll be back."  That just made it worse.  Then I tried, "Well, I'll leave when you get done with 2nd grade and I'll be back right after you start 3rd grade."  Nope, that was a dumb choice, too.  I even tried to joke with him that he was just going to miss my iPad and not me, but he wasn't having it.  It just brought a fresh wave of anguish.

I explained that I would send postcards home and that I would be able to Skype with him while I was gone and that appeased him a bit, but oh my goodness.... I broke his heart.  Finally we just sat with him on my lap in silence, enjoying the sweet time we have together now.  My sweet, tender-hearted grandson.

In other news, I received a reply from Cracker Barrel and they regretfully cannot support me for my trip.  I guess I'll just need to work a little harder and do without Lemon Pepper Trout for awhile.  No replies yet from Ford; Enterprise Rent-a-Car; Pepsi; McDonalds or PooPourri yet.  I'll let you know!