On the entire drive down to Myrtle Beach, I felt like the miles and the hours were flying by, I had so much head noise to amuse myself, I hardly noticed we drove for 12 hours with a toddler.
On the way back, the head noise was gone, and the drive seemed longer. This was either due to the fact that I stepped out of the day-by-day for a few days or the massive consumption of Vodka, starting at 11am, on the beach for the last week.
If I am honest with myself, which I try not to be too often, I think I can figure out the real reason why the drive seemed so tedious. I was driving away from a rare blessing of my extended family gathering to see each other in a circumstance that was not a wedding or a funeral. We just wanted to meet, spend time and laugh. We did.
Every day as we sat in a circle on the beach, I realized that I was not unique. I am made up of a conglomeration of genetics and history that I share with my Mom, Dad, Sister, Aunt, Uncle and three first cousins. My cousin Kate and I have the same feet and shy observation skills, and we have both suffered for those things. My cousin Jon has this nerdy love for science, exactly like mine, which we inherited from my Dad. Andrew is a cousin that is almost exactly my age, and somehow he and I know how listen to more than one conversation at once. I didn't know that there was a male on earth that could do this. As I watched him, I knew he could and was doing it often.
I love making new memories. That is all there really is to do in life, everything else has proved overrated.
Our whole family is transitioning. People are getting married, people are breeding and people are dying. This is always going to be the case. Change is like a windstorm that lets up just long enough for you to look around and realize what you need to grab on to for dear life. What is the strongest and cannot waver? The people who share your genes and your history are impossible to let go.
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