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I’m going to be a little bit selfish and take a turn to write the gratitude blog this week. We were so blessed a couple of weeks ago to take what I have fondly referred to as “one last hurrah” for a vacation with our family unit as it currently sits – mom, dad and four kids.
If you follow the blog at all, you know that our oldest daughter will soon be going off to college, and the dynamics of our household will be changing. Who knows if we will ever get to take another vacation with just the six of us again? Other opportunities may come and pull people away, or we might add some people to our family (though I hope that step is a little ways down the road still!).
We had always said that the summer after Emily graduated we wanted to take a family trip to visit New York. My mom grew up in the upstate area, and I wanted our kids to see and experience that part of the U.S., as well as get a taste of the “big city” and how different life can be in other areas of this beautiful country. When the time was actually approaching, we probably weren’t sitting in quite the spot we had hoped financially and it was hard to find a time that worked well for everyone, but we finally just said, “We’re going!” and planned the trip.
I won’t bore you with all the details or one of those “come watch a slideshow of all the pictures we took on our trip” moments. Suffice it to say, we had a wonderful time! We spent a day in New York City, drove through New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, saw Niagara Falls, traveled back in time at a Renaissance festival, saw some of the sites from our church’s history and had a great time visiting family, among other things.
It was exhausting, to be sure – I don’t think we could have crammed much more into a week. But it was one of those trips I know all of us will always be able to remember and share both the big and little things we saw and experienced during the week.
I think one of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I had been in New York City before, but this was one of the tourist destinations I hadn’t ever been able to find time to fit in. Just seeing Lady Liberty standing there in the harbor, as a symbol of peace and welcome, brought tears to my eyes.
I could only imagine how it must have been for all the immigrants so many years ago to see that welcoming site after a long trip across the ocean, eagerly anticipating what their new lives might have in store for them.
It got me thinking about my own life and how blessed I felt that day! Here I was, surrounded by some of the people I loved the most in a location thousands of miles away from our home, having fun and enjoying each other’s company as we learned and saw and did together.
We took lots of pictures, but I don’t think I’ll really need them to remember what mattered most about the trip – sensing the excitement of my youngest son as he waited for the plane to take off for the first time, having another son recognize the window at Grand Central Station that was in the Captain American movie, another son gaze in awe at the tall buildings and my daughter say “that’s so cool” over and over again; the reverence of the 9-11 Memorial site; or a sacred feeling as we walked on ground where Mormon history took place.
It wasn’t really the things we saw (though that was also awesome!), but it was the time we spent together and the memories we made. Nobody else will really understand what we mean when we say “there’s something in Hoboken New Jersey” or “let’s eat at Village Inn” or “that’s a GREAT lake” – those things, and many others, will always be special to our family and a way to connect us to one another.
How much I appreciate the pieces that fell into place and the many little miracles that made our trip possible! How blessed we are to live in a country where we are free to travel, to come and go as we please and to just experience all life has to offer. I will be forever grateful for the time I was able to spend with my family, making memories together.