As I read about people taking vacations, I'm reminded about some of the vacations I took with my family when I was a kid.
"Sis, help your mom around here today. She’s teary this morning so that means a trip to California to see your Grandma. I’ll be back about 5:00. If you all can get things together, we’ll try to leave early in the morning.”
About every three years, my Mother would get lonesome for her Mother and we’d make the long trek to California in the middle of summer. This particular summer was my 13th year. Having to travel with a teenager, who really would rather have stayed home with her friends, wasn’t a walk in the park for my parents.
We had a Studebaker with no air conditioning. Anyone who has made the trip across the desert to California knows that doesn’t make for a very delightful trip. Mother always packed things to eat along the way because my Daddy didn’t like to stop unnecessarily. And, although we would stop the first night about midnight at a motel in Albuquerque , it seemed we hardly got stretched out straight in the bed before I would hear my Daddy getting up.
“Time to rise and shine. It’s 3:30,” he’d say, “Time’s a wastin’ and we need to get on our way. More time we spend on the road; less time you get to spend with your folks in California.”
Daddy would go pay the bill and get his thermos filled with coffee while we packed up our things and off we would go.
“Sis, you want a banana?” Mother would ask. I was stretched out in the back seat; my pillow under my head catchin’ a few Z’s that I didn’t get the night before.
“Well, how about an orange? Would you like an orange? They’re good for you. When we get to California, you can pick oranges right off the tree. Won’t that be fun?”
“Yea, sure thing, Mother and no, I don’t want an orange.” And, I would turn over hoping there were no more offers.
Somewhere in the early afternoon, Daddy decided to stop for gas. I discovered if you needed a bathroom break, you took it while he was gassing up the car or we were stopped at a stoplight or you didn’t get one.
“While you’re getting some gas, can I run across the highway to that ice cream place and get an ice cream cone?” I ask my Daddy as he started to get out of the car.
“If you’ll make it snappy,”he replied.
So, I jerked open the back door and hopped out onto the pavement barefooted. Little did I realize it was 114 degrees and the pavement would fry and egg in 10 seconds. I jumped back in the car yelling my feet were scarred forever and why didn’t someone tell me it was that hot out there? The little water cooler we had in the car didn’t keep it very cool but it certainly was deceiving about the outside heat. Thankfully, Daddy felt sorry for me enough that he walked across the highway and got an ice cream cone for me and one for mother. He didn’t want one he said, as he poured himself another cup of coffee.
“How ‘bout some boiled eggs and crackers?” Mother turned around and looked at me and then at Daddy.
“Good grief, Mother, it’s hot as blue blazes in here and you’re wanting us to eat boiled eggs and crackers? I replied.
“Well, how ‘bout a piece of apple pie then? “ She asked. So, not wanting to hurt her feelings and hearing my stomach growl occasionally, I said I’d take a piece of pie but she could keep her eggs and crackers. So, she cut a piece of pie for me and one for Daddy. Of course, Daddy didn’t stop long enough to eat so she scooted over closer to him and fed his piece to him a bite at a time. Then, she poured some water from a little red thermos that she had filled with water and ice before we left home. It wasn’t very cold but at least, it was wet.
It was well after dark when we pulled into Grandma’s in Ventura. She lived with her youngest daughter and her husband so after a tearful reunion, Grandma and Mother finally got all the tears wiped away and settled down. Daddy unloaded our belongings from the car including what was left of the apple pie, boiled eggs and crackers. Then we were shown where we were to sleep and assured there was a busy day of sightseeing ahead of us.
“Oh, joy,” I thought, “Just what I needed; more time riding in a car.”
Family is so important. I wish I had realized that more when I was thirteen and had been a bit more sympathetic toward my Mother when she wanted to see her Mother. Now that my mother has gone to her Heavenly home, I miss her boiled eggs, crackers and apple pie. But, most of all, I miss our talks at her kitchen table or on the phone each morning. I don’t think we realize how important that bond is until we become Mothers or fathers. I am so very thankful for my children and grandchildren. I’m thankful that God has placed them close enough that I can see them frequently. And, I am thankful that, because of His grace, all of them are Believers and we will all be together forever in eternity.
“Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, “so you will live well and have a long life. Fathers, don’t exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.” Ephesians 6:1-4
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