 Me at Disney World, 1973 "A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking." --Earl Wilson Going on vacation with my grandmother was a bit like standing next to a live volcano when it's dormant. You know that sooner or later a massive explosion is going to happen, and silently pray it won't incinerate you when it does. She took me to great places like Daytona Beach, Florida, Memphis & Nashville, Tennessee, Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego, & San Fransisco, California, and every year we went with her niece to Myrtle Beach. When I was little, avoiding her, and thus her wrath, was impossible so I tried to make myself as invisible as I could in hopes that she wouldn't notice I was there. As I got older, staying out of her line of fire was easier. I became adept at actually disappearing for as long as I could get away with, usually returning once she'd fallen asleep. Since becoming an adult, I've been back to many of those places with my own children, and let me say, the "Happiest Place on Earth" (i.e. Disney) looks a lot different when viewed from a jubilant, stress-free vantage point (although getting the tune "It's A Small World" stuck in your head is enough to make anyone a little homicidal--no vacationers or characters were actually harmed, but it was close). I have no memory of going on a family vacation with my mother, and I didn't take one with my father until well after I was grown, but in spite of the traumas caused by vacationing with my grandmother, I have been able to revise my idea of what the word "vacation" actually means to me. It involves the following: ZERO stress; very little planning; no schedules to speak of; lots of laughter; naps; puzzles; swimming; hugs; game night; and having a great time even on a tiny budget! Vacations can be long or short, far-away destinations or close, as long as they are filled with "JOY", because only then have you truly attained the desired goal! Just be sure not to linger too long near the "Small World" ride at Disney, otherwise you'll need to add bail money to your expense budget. Also, I'd advise you to stick with company that doesn't make you wish you were invisible!  My Girls at Disney World, 2005
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About The Author
I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter. Archives
August 2021
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