We love road trips.  Pasith and I have taken lots of short ones and a few long ones.  Almost five years ago, in 2006, we had our son and knew that we would have to put off road trips for a while.  When our son was 10 months old, 2007, my father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and we didn’t feel comfortable going too far in case of an emergency.  After a year he passed away and it seemed that the only trips we took for the next year were for last goodbyes and funerals when I lost my Uncle and my Grandma.  The next summer, in 2009, when our son was turning 3 we finally felt like we were ready for a small road trip and had one planned when my Mom was diagnosed with cancer.  We went anyway even though I had a bad feeling.  The story of that trip is a whole other blog but let’s just say it was the last one for a while.  And I missed two family weddings that fall partly because I was too scared to travel.  Last summer we stuck very close to home just going away for one or two days at a time.  Just in case.

When my Mom was sick I had a very difficult time making plans and that has continued since her death.  I am slowly getting past it but it is taking me a while.  Even making dentist or doctor appointments have been difficult because when my Mom was sick I never knew when I would have to go at a moment’s notice.  I cancelled one doctor’s appointment 4 times because it continually conflicted with her schedule.  That hesitation is hard to part with.

So, here we are in the summer of 2011.  We finally feel like we can travel without worrying about a family emergency and we have a few trips planned; a few long weekends and one week to see family.  This past weekend we were out for Father’s Day and we got to talking about our summer while we were having ice cream.  My daughter was so excited and asking so many questions.  And I suddenly had a memory of doing that with my Mom and sister.

In May or June we would go out for supper or evening snack and bring a calendar with us.  We would decide when we were going where over the summer holidays.  Moosomin and Warroad were always at the top of the list among others.  The planning was almost as much fun as the trips.  We didn’t go anywhere extravagant or even on a plane.  But those summer trips are some of the best childhood memories I have.  My Mom’s sister came on a few trips with us when I was a teenager.  We went to New York State for a single parent conference and to BC for a family wedding.  Separate years of course.  My Mom did not like driving in the cities and liked the idea of having another adult along.  And my Aunt loves road trips as much as we do so she was more than happy to come along.  We stopped at little motels, got up too early for breakfast, for my liking, and we all had our particular menu item that we liked to eat at almost every restaurant along the way.  We stepped in all but one Great Lake on our way to New York.

I am so thankful for those memories and hope my kids say the same when they grow up.