Last week I was sitting at a stop light trying to prepare myself for what was going to be a ridiculous week. I looked down at the odometer and saw that when I rolled through the stop light I would be reaching 88,888. Suddenly pictures flashed through my mind like they happened yesterday of places I have been in this van.
We purchased the van because we quickly realized our CRV would not properly suit our growing family once Jack came along. Jack was born in July and we drove our 2006 van off the lot one late September evening in 2005 just hours after it arrived at the dealership. Phil had been shopping for weeks and finally found our best deal.
Just off the top of my head North Carolina Beaches, Florida to see Family and old friends, Washington, DC to see family and help old friends, Ohio and Indiana come to mind. Most of these trips were filled with laughter and hugs, peace and joy all surrounded by those who mean the most to us. I have the thousands of pictures to prove it.
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| Kaitlynn and Jackson's first Disney Parade (Orlando, FL). |
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| Ft. Macon, Atlantic Beach NC |
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| Hendersonville, NC (They last day I felt like my life made sense) |
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| Family vacation (there is nothing like them) |
I look back and see all of these wonderful memories of fun and laughter. Times when I was just worrying about that moment right in front of me and not what I needed to do tomorrow. I wish I could say it was all happy times travelled in those 88,888. It was not. There are many times I racked up miles with tears streaming down my face asking God why was I on this road.
Taking Jack to all three of his surgeries and emergency room visit due to post op complications from one of these surgeries, taking Madelynn to her first pediatric cardiology visit (the day we received her diagnosis) and the daily visits to and from the hospital hoping for good news as Madelynn recovered from her surgery are near the top of the list of most hated miles travelled.
Probably the worst miles ever travelled in the 88,888 was December 3, 2008. This is the day the pediatrician told me Madelynn was in trouble and needed to go back to the hospital. She was stable enough for me to take her but we had to go DIRECTLY to the hospital. It was the longest 20 miles I have ever travelled and I cried the entire way. It took two other visits like the one from December 3rd for the doctors and other specialists involved to finally get the tide to turn.
Today, Madelynn and I travel down the road everyday playing I-spy, talking about anything or me listening to a movie she is watching. Kaitlynn and I are making tracks as she turns herself into a fish once more making laps in the pool. Jackson is showing me that with each mile to and from the soccer field, we believe he found his calling. Both the joyous and painful memories are all part of the 88,888 mile history it is what allowed us to reach today's destination.
TTFN~
1 comment:
thanks for sharing your road. as a fellow traveller, I teared up thinking of how hard life is sometimes. Maybe its good we don't always know what is around the next bend. but it is good to know there are others journeying too and that they are praying. thanks for blogging.
elizabeth
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