24 Hours Plus 10

David and Mercedes Rizzo describe their much-needed weekend of respite from caring for their daughter, who has special needs.

Last Saturday we packed an overnight bag and hopped on a one-hour flight to Boston. We were gone for 34 hours. We know exactly how long we were gone because we are special-needs parents. Special needs parents are keenly aware of details like that. As hard as you try to relax, you are never completely able to because you are always thinking about what it is that your child (in our case our adult child) is getting into.

Our trip to Boston was to join our fellow Catholic Mom authors and the team at Holy Cross Family Ministry for a retreat. We were happy that we were able to make the retreat and meet in person the team that we have known for many years. This gave us a beautiful opportunity for personal renewal including dining with friends, making connections, and attending Mass and Adoration.

Caregivers Need Renewal Too

Laughter and quiet time are often neglected when you must care for someone who can’t do it for themselves. Leaving our daughter overnight in the care of others, even her younger sister and older brother, is not something that we do often. It was a bit nerve-wracking to leave her in the care of someone else. However, we knew that she was in capable hands, and it was necessary for us to make this short trip for our own well-being.

Sometimes trust is all you need. The details all seemed to fall into place during the planning and during the weekend. A shout-out goes to the Holy Spirit for smoothing our way.  

We felt, and still do feel, energized by the weekend and the activities we participated in, the adult-to-adult conversations we had, and connections we made. There were times that we wondered if all was well on the home front, but since we had a chapel in the retreat house, we were able to bring our worries to God on the spot. This allowed us to relax. Throughout the weekend we thought of the words from the Gospel: 

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Taking Our Worries Back

On Saturday evening it started to snow. Although the snow was beautiful to look at, we immediately took our worries back and wondered if it would affect our ability to get home as scheduled. During Mass the next morning, we could see the snow still falling through the chapel windows. This caused us a twinge of worry, but God was in control, and the snowfall promptly ended. 

We took the van to the airport and the roads were clear. This allowed us to make good time. We were able to breeze through security since we only had carry-on bags. We looked up at the departure board and our worries returned. Many flights were delayed, including ours. However, we saw that there was a different flight leaving within the hour that was ready to board. Although we had never made a last=minute flight change before, we confidently requested at the counter to change to stand-by to take the earlier flight. Not only did we get on the flight with a minimal wait, but we had amazing seats with plenty of leg room right behind first class.

An hour later, we were walking off the plane with our bags in hand. We arrived home an hour and a half before we would have if we had stuck with our original flight. Our daughter and son did a great job caring for their sister like they always do. There were a few minor things they had to deal with, but God was good and it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed. 

God Worked It Out, Better Than We'd Hoped

There’s a line in the song "Leaving on a Jet Plane" by John Denver: “Don’t know when I’ll be back again.” But we knew exactly when we would be back, as special-needs parents always do, even when it looked like there would be a delay. Fortunately, the graces we stored up from the weekend retreat helped us to let God work it out, and He did, better than we had hoped. We were home safely, earlier than expected, and in time to watch Super Bowl LIX. Go Birds! 

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2025 David and Mercedes Rizzo
Images: copyright 2025 David and Mercedes Rizzo, all rights reserved.