Growing up my family didn't take annual vacations...my mom stayed home with me and my brother and looking back as a grown-up I now understand it just wasn't in the budget for our family to do those kinds of trips on a regular basis. At times I envy my friends who are stay-at-home moms & I'm thankful to have had a mom who sacrificed to be room mom, who sat in the car-rider lane day in & day out and entertained me every summer growing up...but I do enjoy the income I help provide to our household so my kids can have these kinds of fun memories when they grow up. My mom started working again after I started college so we started having family vacations to the beach every summer. At first it was the whole family...but as time went by it started being just a trip for me and my mom. Then Arch & Spencer came into the picture and they started joining us, then Adam, Toni and my dad started coming and before too long we were all vacationing as a family again. 4 summers ago some friends recommended the beach house that we now love and look forward to visiting but with the addition of kids to our family my mom started looking into Disney vacations and joined the Disney Vacation Club...which we love it too. During the last two summers we've been burning through my mom's vacation club points so we've done several different Disney themed vacations. This year we're headed to Disney for a Birthday Girl Spectacular to celebrate Ada, my mom and Ruth Ann's birthdays...all which fall within the same week. My mom and I thought it would be a fun idea to head back to our favorite summer home. Our last summer to vacation at the beach house was the summer of 2008...I was 5 months pregnant and just found out we would be having a baby girl and Ada as 7 months old...which was how old Tripp was on this past vacation...that is so hard for be to believe! As this year's vacation started to approach I realized it would be a bitter-sweet return back to this beach house. The last vacation we took there was the last time we all vacationed together before Adam's passing and as our vacation got closer this thought crossed my mind more and more often.
Several things happened during our beach trip that made it feel like a piece of Adam was there with us...
#1: Trouble making boys...I won't share the drama...but it was very similar to trouble Adam and his friends use to find themselves in!
#2: This sweet girl...
There are lots of times where I still get teary talking about Adam...like as I'm typing this now. Sometimes I can talk about him like nothing has ever changed but other times it still hurts to think about how much all our lives have changed in the last 2 years. But this little girl, who lost the most 2 years ago, talks about her daddy with such ease that I feel like my heart healed a little during the week we spent with her. One morning Arch went to the grocery store to pick up a few odds and ends. While he was gone Ruth Ann started talking about how she missed her daddy and started asking questions about where he was. She turned around to Ada and asked where her daddy was. As I held my breath Ada responded simply by saying "He's in Heaven." without missing a beat. Ada was only 16 months old when we lost Adam and one of the my most vivid memories from that day was seeing Ada in the lap of one of Toni's friends. I remember thinking how small she was and knowing she was never going to remember that day...but she was also not going to remember her daddy either. Toni has clearly done a great job keeping his memory alive because she talks about him frequently without a hint of sadness in her voice. I also realized during our week together how hungry she is for others to share their memories of Adam...oh the memories I have in store to share with this girl! I'll be sure to edit the content for her sake!
Please don't think I was all weepy and sad all week long...we had one of our best vacations yet...minus the teen drama. If I've learned anything in the last 2 years it's to enjoy each and every moment together with your family...none of us have a promise of tomorrow so enjoy your today's!
Blog posts to follow will be picture loaded...I promise!
3 comments:
Great post Tara! I have gotten misty eyed just trying to imagine how it must feel. Thank you for the reminder of not taking one day for granted. It is so easy to do, we just never know what tomorrow holds. I'm so glad you and your whole family had a great week of vacation!
Thank you for this sweet post {sobbing}. That sweet dialogue between those little girls is precious. There is nothing like the faith of a child. I think it is a beautiful thing that you are all sharing stories with Ada (and Toni) to keep Adam's memory alive.
I can only imagine the boy drama especially if it was anything like what I've heard about Adam and Hollis. Teary-eyed doesn't begin to explain my reaction while reading this post. Toni certainly has done a great job!
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