Happy One Year Aimee
re·cov·er
/riˈkəvər/
verb
return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.
pull oneself together
recover control of one's emotions.
find or regain possession of (something stolen or lost).
The dictionary definition of sobriety is “the quality or state of being sober,” according to Merriam-Webster. When you think about it, that’s a vague definition, but it perfectly matches what it means to be sober for recovering individuals. Your “quality” of sobriety is dependent on what you make it. The “state” of your sobriety also depends on what you make it.
I will not go into detail about my daughter Aimee’s journey this past year, but, what I will tell you, is, that she is recovering.
She made a choice. She chose to go right instead of left. She chose to protect her children. She chose to return to working a program of recovery. She chose to turn to her God and ask for help. She put down the drink, and stopped putting substances in her body that cut her off from the sunlight of the spirit. She chose to recover! To find what she lost, to recover what was stolen. She has the light and sparkle back in her eyes, and a spring back in her step.
As a mom, who chooses life over death on a daily basis, I am so relieved, and am so grateful that my God heard all my prayers. I got my girl back!
Kim and Aimee
So, in my opinion, she deserved a celebration on her one year “soberversary”, and I needed to make that happen. So I did.
I live here in Florida, and Aimee is in Los Angeles, California. As you might recall, Aimee was just here with her kiddos last month on a week long vacation. She asked me over and over if I would please come to LA to celebrate her special day. I told her I would, but as time went on, I decided to tell her I couldn’t come. I had a plan. A surprise party!
I contacted her friends Sean and Marta and asked if I could use their home to have the party. They, of course, said yes! It was on. The plan was that they would tell Aimee that they wanted to have a party for her with a few of her friends from AA. When Aimee agreed to that, I put the surprise party into action.
I bought my plane ticket, ordered some decorations, hired a taco lady to provide lunch, invited her sponsor Nancy, and my sponsor Jen, her homie Jason, and of course, Marta and Sean. Jen and I designed and ordered a beautiful cake from a local bakery.
Everything was in place, as I continued to apologize to Aimee for not being able to get to LA for her special day. I blamed it on Jim. I told her that he didn’t want me to travel on a plane during this unprecedented time in the world. She was sad, I was dying with excitement.
On Thursday, September 17, I left Florida and headed to L.A. I was arriving two days before the party. I spent the first night with Jennifer. It was such a joy to see her. Jen is my sponsor and my best friend. She is my biggest cheerleader and has become a very important person in Aimee’s life. We went out to dinner and called it an early night. I was exhausted and with the time difference, feeling a bit out of sorts. I woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Interesting fact, I call Aimee every morning at 5:00 am. She has to get herself and the kids up to get ready for work. We read the daily AA Ponderables and spend a few moments chatting. At home it’s 8:00 am, so no big deal. But, I had to call her at 5:00 am (Cali time) to keep her thinking I wasn’t coming. I really had her fooled!
Friday, I visited my friend Melissa in Claremont. It was a nice visit and great to catch up. She invited me to speak at her Zoom meeting that evening. I agreed. Interesting that God does for me what I can’t do for myself. I really needed a meeting and being a 45 minute speaker really gave me the strength and gratitude I needed.
I stayed this night at Sean and Marta’s house, where the party was to take place. I did the meeting there. Sean and Marta housed me in their darling little back house that had a loft style bedroom and an awesome shower, which I spent about 15 minutes in! It was glorious! I went to bed and was awoken to a 4.9 California Earthquake! I’ve been through many a earthquake. This one didn’t disappoint. I rocked and rolled- 9 feet off the ground, 3 feet under the roof, and rode it out. It was impressive. At least in Florida, you get warnings if there is to be a hurricane. You can get out. Earthquakes just come. No warning at all. Cute Jennifer called to make sure I was ok. I was.
I woke up early and didn’t want to bother Marta, so I snuck off to Starbucks and got me a coffee.
The decorations were being delivered at 9:00, Jen was picking up the cake and the taco lady was to arrive at noon. It was a beautiful California morning, and I was super excited for the party to start.
I ordered 30 balloons and other party decorations. Party City delivered them right on time. A funny thing happened. Well, it was funny after the shock wore off. The balloons came wrapped in big bags. 15 balloons to each bag. I placed the bags under a pop up tent where they were just hanging out. I went in the house to make some iced tea. When I went back outside, the bags of balloons were gone! OMG! I ran out to the front yard. Not there and not floating down the street. I turned around quickly and watched the $75.00 worth of balloons wrapping themselves around the high tension wires above the house! It was a tragedy.
I had to have balloons, so I remembered what Jim always tells me. “If it can be fixed with time or money, it’s not a problem”. I had an hour and I had some money, so I raced off to a balloon store and they were able to provide me 30 more balloons. All was well in balloon land and the City came out the next day and cut them down.
The plan was for me to hide in the back house and Jason would get Aimee to sit for a picture when she got there. I was able to hear as she arrived. She was so happy to see Jen and Nancy. She wasn’t expecting them. Jason sat her and the girls down and gave me my verbal cue.
This is how it went-
The surprise party was all I hoped it would be and, I have to say this again, my heart is at peace.
Sunday, I spent the afternoon with my sister Cameron and my brother Kelly and his wife Joni.
Cam came to visit Jim and I in Florida over the New Year, and last I saw Kelly and Joni, we were on our loop and spent 4th of July 2018 in New York with them. Kelly lives in New York, where he works and Joni lives in Dana Point. They travel back and forth, and Kelly happened to be in California on Sunday. We all met up at Cameron’s home for a nice lunch. The 3 of us have not been all together for 10 years. I know that sounds like a long time, but, circumstances of life, distance in our homes and busy lives, just make it so. It was awesome to be all together, if just for a short time.
Monday, I watched Grace and Zeke for a bit, and we all got ready to have a dinner with the rest of my kids (minus Robert, Steph, And two of my grandchildren). We met up in Claremont at Espius Restaurant and sat outside for a meal together. My oldest daughter Veronica and her girl Audrey, my son Michael, his wife Millie, and their daughters, Andreya, Arianna and Aliessa, and Aimee, Gracie and Zeke, were all together. Even my ex-husband came along.
Living so far away, the chance to be in their presence, warms my heart. I miss my kids and grandchildren, but am so proud of all of them. Everyone is safe and healthy and for that, I am grateful.
And, so, my surprise visit to California has come to an end. It was an awesome adventure and I will hold the memories in my heart forever. I’m glad to be home with Jim. We have our Wedding Anniversary coming up on the 28th. 7 years of love and unbelievable adventures.
We have some really cool news to share! We are going cruising! Captain Jim and I are going to deliver a boat to Gulfport, Mississippi! Jim met a couple, Matt and Amy on an Uber ride. They bought a boat in Stuart, Florida and drove it here to Venice. Jim picked them up one day and of course, Jim told them we had done the loop, something that is in their future plans. They ran out of time to get their boat to Mississippi, so they hired Jim to deliver her to them!
We will leave October 20th and will probably take us a few weeks to get her to them. We are both super excited, and very grateful for the opportunity.
More to come!
until then, peace and our love
❤️
