I'm taking a weekend away. JD is on a spiritual retreat outside of St. Louis so Nancy and brought him over this way on Thursday. We're staying until Sunday night. Rachel is with us and Steph will join us for about 24 hours somewhere along the way. Not much of a family vacation, but it seems to go that way for us.
I remember when I was one of 5 children headed for vacation. Dad would strap all our luggage on top to the Country Squire and we five kids would pack our books, crayons, road games (remember car ride bingo?) chewing gum for car sickness, and we would head out for where ever. Air conditioning? What was that?
Larry and I were the youngest two so we would inevitably be the ones in the back on that seat that opened out of the floor and faced backward. I'm sure we fought the whole way when we weren't trying to fill out that form that mom gave us on the license plates of the 49 states. (No, I'm not that old, but who's going to be driving a car over from Hawaii?) It was really an overall great time and filled with fond memories.
On this trip Rachel had her 5 movies from Blockbuster which she was watching on the built in DVD player, JD had his Harry Potter book, and Nancy slept or chatted with me while I played the same role as Dad did those many years ago; I drove the whole way... it's a dad thing. Some things change, some don't.
We had a supper with my parents as they are staying at my sister's house in St. Louis. It's their home away from their Florida home. On the way home we were driving down the highway and saw an old station wagon. It probably wasn't as old as the 1970's Ford we drove in, but it was old. As it passed us I noticed there was an older couple in the front seat. The car inched forward ahead of us more and I saw that their was an older couple in the middle seat. As I slowed to get on the off ramp the wagon passed us and there was an older couple in the seat facing out the back window. And she was rocking out to what ever music was playing. I don't know what images that conjured up in Nancy's mind but we both broke out in laughter. We laughed so hard that Rachel laughed at us laughing.
Sometimes the things that you remember from vacation are the ones that surprise you the most, even make you laugh as a family. This trip we'll remember an old couple rocking in the rumble seat of a country squire.
1 comment:
It is indeed a Dad thing... the whole driving the whole way on vacation. I am reminded of this as we just returned from our vacation and Eric drove the whole way. Not because he "had" to or I didn't want to, but just because that it how it is. Funny how we grow up with these models and somehow they just continue to live within us!
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