Dear Dumplin,
Last year was somewhat of a Father’s Day dud. Instead of being able to do something nice for your Dad, we had to go to a mandatory weekend work trip for his job. What kind of company takes people away from their families during Father’s Day weekend? But I digress… This year your Dad and I along with you and your Mema went to a family reunion in Richmond, Virginia. It was your first road trip! I was excited and petrified. I had no idea how you would do in a car for more than five hours. I hoped you would simply look out of the window and fall asleep. It rained a little on the way down to Virginia but for the most part, the weather was great.
I thought your Dad would rather do something else besides a family reunion and road trip but he was excited about doing something different. So we packed the car and set off at about 4:30 Saturday morning. You were not happy! Luckily, I decided to leave you in your pajamas for the first half of the trip. No need to further aggravate you by changing your clothes. You were too tired to eat and did fall asleep once we got on the highway. We tucked you in a blanket and kept the noise down.
As soon as we made our first bathroom stop, your eyes popped open.
“What’s this place Mommy?”
“It’s a rest stop sweetie.”
“Can I have pink lollipop?”
“Sure, why not. We’re on vacation.”
Once back in the car, you played with the cake pop more than you ate it and fell back asleep. Traffic wasn’t bad until we hit Virginia. Although we planned to reach the hotel at 9:30 am, we didn’t get there until almost 11:00 am. And do you know what happened as soon as we got there? You got sick! I won’t go into details but let’s just say it was very yucky as you let me know often. “Yucky Mommy yucky. That’s yucky.”
We ended up not going on the planned trolley tour and stayed near the hotel to have lunch instead. I needed to keep you near a bathroom. You were happy to eat french fries and sit in the air conditioning playing on your Leap Frog tablet. After lunch we went to the hotel room and took a much-needed nap. Once we woke up, it was time for Cousin Ruby’s 100th Birthday party! Even though the trip did not go as planned, I felt so blessed to not only meet new family, but witness a blood relative reach 100 years of age. And let me tell you, Cousin Ruby walked into the party with nothing but the help of a walker. She ate her food and laughed at the jokes. People read poetry to her, and talked about her love of God. She has touched many lives and it was quite a lovely experience.
One thing I want you to know is that you love life. Although you have to warm up to people when you first meet them, you love parties and open spaces. You love to run and dance. Don’t lose that. Never lose your zest for experiencing the little things. You ran around that party like it was your personal playground. I’ll admit, I was stressed out trying to keep you from bumping into anyone and trying to stop you from touching anything you shouldn’t touch. But you know what? The hassle was worth it. I got to watch you play with your cousins who drove in from Raleigh, NC, and you got to meet more family. Family isn’t always a blood relative but in this case, they were. Take care of family whether they are blood relatives or not. It’s important.
The ride back was nice. It was sunny and you stayed awake to see everything you could out of the window. Who knew going over bridges and through tunnels could be so exciting?
I’m glad to have had the experience and I hope you get many more. Where should we drive to next?
Love,
Mama
P.S.- Hope everyone had a nice Father’s Day.