It worked out to be about a 10-hour car trip one-way with a 4 and 6-year-old, who we decided it was a good idea to take to a wedding.
We spent the evening at the reception asking each other, "Have you seen ______?" "Wait, I see one of them over there... you know, that blur over there..." "Do NOT touch that wedding cake. I said DON'T TOUCH."
(And I kind of don't blame them on the cake thing. This thing was like a museum piece, as you can see to the left.)
On the way home, my Iowa-born husband was happy to learn that it was only three more minutes of travel time to drive home via Des Moines and I-80 than take the downstate Illinois route via Springfield, which has to be one of the more dreadful drives of all time. (I don't know how our Chicago state lawmakers make the five-hour trip on a regular basis without going utterly mad... maybe there's a correlation to the state's financial mess in there?)
One stop was near Iowa City, where my hub has a kind, sweet relation who lives on a farm.
My kids were in heaven. Doting family, farm cats, farm dogs, carefully preserved toys that may be older than I am... it was magnificent.
I forget which kid announced they liked farms better than Chicago.
Iowa was a hit. Funny to think I couldn't move away fast enough 20 years ago.
One of the dogs was a gorgeous Irish setter whose name begins with a T, something like "Trainer". (Forgive me, I can't concentrate on adult conversations these days and remember jack squat). Carolyn, one of my hub's lovely relatives, told us her "forever dog" story, as in, her daughter (or daughter-in-law? Again, it's hard to remember anything with these wonderful, maddening, wiggly, chatty kids around!!) found the dog and called her from out of state to let her know that she'd found her "forever dog."
I've been mulling the "forever" thing in my head since.
I loved the forever story (my forgetfulness on details aside). It's incredibly sweet and innocent -- and pretty rare -- that we can still find someone or something that we can love forever. We're pretty lucky when we do.
So I've been thinking about what things are forever. In a way, we crave forever, even though we know not much really is actually around forever. It's why we get married. When we have kids, we think of them being around forever (and hope and pray that never changes) -- and then we're surprised how how fast they grow and change.
When a phone call comes and you find out someone important might not be around forever, it's also a reminder to appreciate forever.
When I moved to Chicago in my late 20s, I made some very fun friends that I hung with into my 30s. In a few cases, things got weird. Definitely partly me, definitely partly them, but we parted ways.
But plenty of others are still fun friends that are still so great when I get to spend time with them.
Like my college roommate. We were 18 when we met. We talk twice a year, on her birthday and on mine.
This year, one of our topics of discussion has been how on earth we're turning 47 this year. Neither of us feels old enough (and neither of us looks it, if we're openly vain about it.)
She's still so awesome.
Knowing nothing is really "forever", I find myself attempting to focus on the spirit of forever, as in, the things that make life rich. Like, when something sucks, I find myself thinking, is this a "forever" thing I should care about?
Usually not.
Forever things -- amazing kids and husband. Great friends. My parents and sibs and extended family. Running. The fun parts of my profession that allow me to provide for my family. Wine. (yay, wine).
Oh, and this guy, my forever cat. (I still want a forever dog, though, too!)
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| Reckless the kitty |
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