My family recently spent a week in Indiana with friends at a cabin on a lake, and it was so good for us.
Our two families met more than a decade ago when our sons were all little boys, and we have remained friends throughout our separate journeys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). My husband and I are raising three sons with DMD — Max, 20; Rowen, 17; and Charlie, 15 — along with four other children, while our friends, who live in Pennsylvania, have two sons with DMD. It’s a perfect fit, where both couples and all the kids click.
We vacationed together last year, too, and when we said our goodbyes this year, we were already talking about adding another day for next year’s vacation. It’s becoming an annual thing!
Just what we needed
I feel more refreshed and rested than I have in months, and I know it’s due in large part to being able to get away for a week with our very good friends.
We took the kids to an amusement park on the first day, and my daughters enjoyed that. The guys were good sports, enjoying the fair-like food and following the girls around. We wrapped up the day with a ferry boat ride, and the day was tiring in the way amusement parks always are, but fun.
The rest of the week was chill, however. We had faint outlines of plans, but mostly we rested, talked, and did what we wanted on our very loose timeline. We went to bed late and slept late. The dads cooked us wonderfully filling meals each night, and we ate leftovers for lunch and breakfast.
One day, the moms floated on the lake in battery-powered floaties and had a blast. The girls swam and rode with us. Charlie got in the water and used my floatie. The other guys sat in the shade, laughing at us and talking among themselves.
We met up that night with another family that has a son living with Duchenne, and the six guys in their power wheelchairs hung out together playing video games, then joined the adults and girls outside for a steak dinner. The night didn’t end until the wee hours of the morning, but laughter and fellowship were worth the next day’s yawns.
It rained on our last day there, so the boat ride we had planned didn’t happen, but we drove into town for ice cream, and the rain cleared up in time for us to enjoy a taco dinner. We sat outside and watched the sunset. Our last night together made the gathering bittersweet.
My favorite part of this trip was the way our sons got along. My sons don’t have much interaction with other guys their age outside our family. To hear them laughing, telling inappropriate jokes and stories, and just being high school and college-age guys was music to my ears.
It is a gift to be with people who live a similar version of life because of Duchenne. They just get it. It makes everything relaxed. There’s no need to ask for understanding or acceptance.
Our families are intertwined now. We have laughed together and cried over the past two summers. They get their girl fix with our daughters, and all the adults help all the guys with DMD. We talked about Duchenne, but we spent more time just talking about life, the good and bad, exciting and mundane.
It was perfect.
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