trips Archives - Adulting: Second- Half

A Little Break

Stream of thought:

For some strange reason, my childhood mailman came to mind this morning. (that’s sort of an oxymoron, “mailman- maleman”) His name was Joe and despite living in Pittsburgh, PA the man was always deeply suntanned, before tanning beds became a thing. Joe wore his hair in a pompadour like James Dean and he walked up to each of our homes, as our mailboxes were hung right next to our front doors. He smoked long brown cigarettes as he delivered the mail, and Joe was always friendly to us kids, keeping rubber bands around his wrist and giving them to us when we pestered him for them. Do you remember your childhood mailperson? What about your bus drivers? Your school janitors? Particular teachers? Some people just have a way of “sticking out” in our memories, you know? I’m sure that Joe would have no idea the impression that he made on us little kids. I find this sort of comforting and hopeful. Perhaps in our lifetimes, doing nothing except going about, doing our daily business, we make an impression on more people than we realize. It’s such a good reminder to remember the kind of impression which we would like to make, especially for the little ones coming up in this world. The impressions we leave are our little chinks and marks and nicks on the world. Joe didn’t do anything particularly special, other than to smile and to take the time to pass out a few rubber bands, as he reliably delivered the mail each day in his cornflower blue uniform. And yet still, I remember Joe to this day. He’s probably passed on as I am 53, and I bet that Joe was my age when he was delivering our mail. But he left a mark, and it was a good one. . . .

Do you have something that you do everyday that you so look forward to doing? Do you have morning rituals or evening rituals that are your comfort signatures of the day? I have many, but perhaps my favorite habit is writing this blog almost every single day. It fills me with such joy and a sense of purpose. Thank you for being such a vital part of it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That being said, I am headed out on an adventure tomorrow and I won’t be back to writing the blog for over a week. I love writing this blog so much, that I used to take my computer along with me, wherever I went. I’ve written this blog from different states and even different countries. But I have learned from this experience, that it is best for me to fully immerse myself in my adventures, by leaving my daily rituals behind me. I’ve often thought that one of the best parts of travel is when you start to miss and yearn for all of the comforts and joys of home. Leaving home (fully) makes you appreciate it more.

Since I won’t be writing for the next couple of Fridays, I did want to leave you a bonus gift – a favorite of mine! The Insight Timer phone app has some of the best sleep meditations I have ever tried on it. There are so many different courses and guided meditations on this app, and so far, it has all been free. The Insight Timer is one of the most quality apps I have ever downloaded on my phone. Check it out!

If you miss me while I’m gone, please go through my archives. I’ve been writing this blog for several years now. It always tickles me when I see in the stats, years-old blog posts that are being viewed. I think there might be some treasures in there . . . .

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

1921. Do you prefer cats or dogs? (I love most animals and my childhood cat is a legend in my mind, but I’m a dog girl at heart.)

Monday – Funday

I’m headed out on a trip to visit with loved ones. I am feeling the need to completely let go of my regular daily routine, and that includes writing the blog. I’ll be back on Thursday or Friday, hopefully with my creative juices all amped up. I’ll miss you. Have a great week!!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

751. What is your own idea of relaxing?

Scrapbooks and Cherries

I Am Pieces Wall Quotes™ Decal | WallQuotes.com

My daughter and I are headed on a mother/daughter road trip this weekend, starting today. My daughter turned eighteen in March, and she is starting college early this June. We have been planning this getaway for a while, just the two of us. I never believed in raising your kids like they were your friends. My husband and I definitely leaned a little towards the strict side when raising our four children. In retrospect, I think that is why it has been so easy to become friends with them now, as we are all adults. There is a mutual respect. They are all adults whom I really like, and whom I find interesting and fun to be with. And by the excitement which my daughter has shown for this trip, she must feel the same way about me. This feels wonderful. Like Brooke Hampton states in the quote above, I am going to be adding another page in the “scrapbook of me” this weekend. And it could likely end up being one of those pages which I turn to again and again, to relive the fun memories in my mind. And while my daughter and I have a lot of fun destinations we plan to go to, and to explore each day, the entire journey is really made up of all of the little stuff: the songs we will sing along to on the ride, the giddiness we felt while planning and anticipating the trip, and the funny little anecdotes that will happen that we could never have planned on experiencing. I think this is why trips are so great. Trips are really a microcosm of all of our own lives’ adventures. We decide to become mothers, so we get pregnant or we adopt a baby, and mothering is all that we experience on the long and windy road to getting our children securely to their adulthoods. We decide to become our career choices, so we apply to schools, and we learn the lessons and the skills of the trade we want to do, and we take our first jobs, and once again, the real experience is the journey of where our jobs and careers take us. The final destination of anything in life, is always just the small delightful cherry on top of it all. And we savor the cherry. We chew it up, soak up the juices, and then we quickly tend to start all over again, planning a new destination to achieve, because the adventures which take us to our chosen destinations are really what life is all about.

120 Best Quotes About Journey and Destination - Quotesjin

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Back in the Saddle

Hi friends! I’m back to my usual writing corner. Josie, our collie, is keeping a watchful eye on me, making sure that I am staying put, and not leaving any time soon for another adventure. She likes to herd every member of our family, right where she can keep a careful eye on all of us. Our trip was incredible, and thankfully, my youngest son, who is epileptic, remained seizure free for the duration of the trip, after suffering two major seizures, hours before our departure. Thank you for your love and prayers. I felt them and they sustained me. We are hoping and praying that this is just a matter of upping the dose of a new medication that my son has been trying since the beginning of the year. Time will tell.

I am in that digestion stage, which we all go through, after experiencing major incidents in our lives. I just experienced the trip of a lifetime, seeing things I have never seen in my lifetime, and may never see again. I also experienced a major disappointment, realizing that once again, my son’s epilepsy is determined to remain a terrorizing part of our lives. I have been through an onslaught of stimulation this past week. Now, I am just sitting with it all, trying to absorb what I want to keep, and also to find peace with what I cannot control. Mostly, I want to remain in that flow of love and faith, that allows me to move forward, to live my life in trust and in wonder, no matter what is happening to me, and around me.

Where we were traveling is an incredibly quiet place. It was probably the most quiet, peaceful place which I have ever experienced in my life. There are few roads, few cars, and even few animals, where we visited. One time my husband and I were hiking, and I asked him that we not speak for a while. I wanted to soak in the pure quiet of it all. It was intensely beautiful and healing to be able to be that quiet in myself.

I always try to make a trip, or a novel experience, a deliberate, new part of myself . What I took from this trip, was a reminder of how peaceful life can be, if we allow it. What I took from this trip, is how important it is, to find those quiet, still, peaceful moments and to sit with them and to soak them in. These still moments are the purest moments in our lives when we get to experience the most aware part of our being. These are the moments that we get reacquainted with our spirit within, and they are vital to our well-being.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Friday is Real

Hi, friends. My regular readers know that they can usually start their Fridays out with a whimsical little post from me, speaking of my frivolous favorites. Typically, I list three favorite things, or songs, or websites, or books, or whatevers, on any given Friday. But I didn’t do that today. On this Friday, this is the first time that you are hearing from me. On this Friday evening, I am sitting in an airport, awaiting another amazing adventure with my immediate family – the five people in this world, whom I love more than life itself.

No one would ever feel sorry for me. I have nice things, a decent sized savings account, and a husband of almost 27 years who loves me, and whom I adore back. I have a beautiful family, supportive friends, and overall, a really good life. Typically, I “reflect” my life. Typically, I look good in the airport. I have nice purses and luggage and clothes and I know how to put on make-up. I am well-traveled. I guess these days, I would be considered to be, what is commonly called (with an air of disdain), a privileged, white woman.

Nonetheless, today, I look a wreck. I threw on clothes that were on a heap on my floor, and make-up wasn’t even a consideration. I was seriously questioning whether me or my family would even make our flights. My husband ended up doing half my packing. I spent my morning at the hospital, a place that is fairly familiar to our family. My youngest son, who suffers from epilepsy, endured another major seizure this morning, after recuperating from a different, traumatizing seizure from the night before, when he ended in a heap up on the floor, convulsing uncontrollably, right after celebrating his brother’s birthday, with cake and ice cream. My baby’s feet were turning blue. It was hard to see if my son was really even actually breathing, so even though we are all experienced in these events, I frantically called the paramedics, yet once again, for the familiar reassurance and comfort that these incredible people always bring, along with all of their other muscles, (brawn and heart) and the heavy duty equipment which comes from being among the bravest and most compassionate people in the world.

This morning, after my son’s vitals all looked good, we conferred with his doctors. As usual, epilepsy remains a mystery. Trying to figure out epilepsy is trying to make sense out of nightmares which do not make sense. Epilepsy is always about trying to understand a personal mystery with dire consequences, and there never, ever seems to be any real, concrete, reassuring answers to give you any comfort and respite. Epilepsy makes you believe in hope, like nothing else you have ever believed in, because usually hope is the only thing you have left to hold on to, when dealing with this frustrating, personal and heart-breaking ailment.

Right now, I am writing this blog post from an airport this Friday evening. I don’t have my usual air of excitement, confidence and aura of “put togethered-ness”, that I sometimes carry along with me on my trips. I am scared out of my mind. I want to grab my son and I want to keep him in my own little cocoon, where he and I can never get hurt. Adventures be damned. I just want us to be safe and loved and alive, together.

But my son doesn’t see it the same way. My son doesn’t want epilepsy to win. And his doctors agree. So, right now, we are just doubling down on his medicine and praying that his body doesn’t rebel against his choice to live his life. And right now, I am that privileged woman, who you see walking through the airport, all decked out in fancy clothes that hide and shield, a wounded, desperate heart, praying that she is making the right decision, to roll with the punches, and to let things be as they may, as she walks behind her precious, beloved son, in a crowded corridor in any given airport.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Letting Myself Be Lived

I’m posting this in the wee, small hours of the morning, today. I’m headed out on an adventure this weekend. I’ve been pining for this adventure for a while, but considering our loss of our beautiful dog, Lacey, I realize that I need this adventure more than ever. Change of scenery is a good cure, for a home full of constant reminders of who you are missing.

I’ll be writing my blog away from home for the first time since I started writing it. My husband bought me a new computer and this enormous, curved monitor when we both started to realize that me writing my blog was no longer a whim or a passing fancy, but more of a necessary passion of mine, here to stay. I’m going to miss the “Big Screen”, but I fully intend to continue to blog every morning. I’m not sure how much, or if and when, I will choose to share my stories about my adventure, but I’m definitely taking my computer along for the ride.

I love the anticipation of trips. I read recently that if you stress too much about something before it happens, you are actually putting yourself through that stress, two times. I like to think then, that it follows, if you are eager about heading out on an adventure, you are putting yourself through the excitement, twice! I don’t have any expectations for this getaway other than an eager interest in the unknown and the prospect of surprise. I’m going somewhere that I have never been to, and that is my favorite kind of experience.

When I go on trips, I don’t have a set agenda. I won’t be crestfallen if I don’t see certain museums or landmarks or shows. My favorite part of exploring new areas, is the overall ambiance. I love to observe and soak in, the atmosphere – the people, the preferences, the smells, the sounds, the shared community’s prides and loves, the food, the weather, etc. all related to the place that is new to me. Every place has its own nuances. Every place is like a world unto its own. This doesn’t only apply to faraway places, in distant lands. Every city is broken down into neighborhoods and smaller towns that are distinctly their own places, rich with culture and quirks, quite individual to that “place within a place.” Even unique homes and families are their own corners of the world. I’m good at letting go and letting Life explore itself, through me, when I go on outings, exploits and trips. Maybe that is why I love adventures so much – they are the times in my life that I completely let go, and let myself Be Lived.