ON THE ROAD AGAIN

This last week has been a very busy one for me and John. We have traveled thirteen hundred miles in a short span of time between last Thursday and this past Tuesday. We drove from here to Ft Bragg N.C then down to Myrtle Beach S.C, then back home. We are still driving the Dodge van which has close to if not 200 thousand miles on it. We debated on renting a vehicle, but decided to tempt fate one more time and take the van. Even though we have broken down on every trip, in every major city, on the busiest interstate highways in America we still chose to drive our own. I must say it is probably a good thing, because I don't know if we will ever be able to vacuum all the cookies and Cheeze-its out of the back seat. I don't think the car rental place would have taken kindly to the mess the kids made.

Sarah and Cody came in with the kids on Sunday evening around midnight and left out for Ft Bragg on Monday evening about the same time. They Luke and Charlotte with us for a couple of days while they went ahead and got the furniture settled in. We entertained the kids and they entertained us for the next couple of days. We left around 12:30 on Thursday morning so we could get into the trip while the kids slept. When we got on the other side of Augusta Ga. Charlotte needed a diaper change and I realized she was running a fever. After that stop it was drive a few miles, stop and do a diaper change, drive a few miles.....

We got into Ft Bragg around 2:30 that afternoon. The kids were glad to see mom and dad and their new house and check out their new rooms. We helped hang some curtains and pictures and piddled around putting things away. That night Luke wanted Maw maw to sleep with him. Sometime during the night he rolls over and said "Maw maw my tummy hurts". You guessed it he was running a fever and had an upset stomach. I am convinced if I make it through this episode without getting sick, I must be a pretty tough old bird:)

We had a nice visit and it is always good to have an idea where you children are living. We decided since we were so close we should drive down to Myrtle Beach and check on John's mom.

We got there about 5:00 went out to the K&W and had dinner. The next morning John and Rose went to church then we went to Friendly's and had breakfast. John and I went and had the tires rotated on the van and hit a few thrift stores. That night we went to a little Calabash restaurant and had seafood. ( Man I am still stuffed from all the eating we did.) We left Tuesday morning heading back to Alabama and arrived here at 6:30 Tuesday night. I had to be up at 4:45 this morning and to work by 6:00. I am kind of dragging my tail tonight.

I will back track just a bit now. John's mom is 86 years old and has been living on her own since John's dad died a number of years ago. I know it is hard to give up your independence and everyone wants to keep that sense of being in charge of your life. I do think there comes a time when you have to let your children take some of the responsibility for you. Let them worry about where you left your purse, or what you did with the house key. Let them drive you to church so you don't have to get their an hour early just to find a spot up close to the door. Take this time to enjoy your kids, grand kid and great grand kids some of whom you haven't seen in years or ever. Interacting with them will help keep your mind active and help unclutter the things that are there just to irritate. This may be the time to make those choices.