From Rebecca McCarrty and the book 50 things really matter. . .
It’s another cross-country road trip. We leave Michigan at eight o’clock in the morning and finally reach Chicago. There’s not much to look forward to for the next twenty-three hours before arriving in Utah. From the back seat come the cries, “Turn the music up!” Everyone breaks into song. The “girls,” that is me and my sisters, “dance” with our feet on the ceiling in the back seats of a twelve-passenger van while my dad pounds the steering wheel and dashboard.
This is a common scene from my history. Every other summer while growing up my family would spend three or four weeks in our van traveling from Michigan to Utah, on to Washington and Oregon, stopping in at other chosen states. We would spend time with extended family and visit famous sites. All the activities were memorable, but what I remember most about those trips are the hours and hours spent in the car en route to our destinations. We listened to music, read books together, played the alphabet game, or looked for license plates from different states.
Never were we forced to be so close as a family as when we were on those road trips. Sometimes being so close made it easier to fight, but it also gave us the opportunity to just be together without the distractions of life. Our friendships were strengthened and we got to know each in a new way. I will always hold dear those late night talks, early morning doughnut runs, and moments where everything is funny because you are stir-crazy.
I am so grateful my parents made the effort and put up with all of us making a ruckus so I can have those fond memories. I will never miss driving through the night or eating sandwiches and fruit out of a cooler for three weeks straight, but I hope I can go on road trips with my children where we can just enjoy spending time together, making memories. ~~By Rebecca MCCarty, “50 Things that Really Matter to Latter-day Saints” (Salt Lake City: Leatherwood Press LLC, 8160 South Highland Drive, Sandy, Utah 84093, www.leatherwoodpress.com), p.83-4
