Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Memory Lane


Yesterday Brian and I drove to Springfield, MO to watch our LCC boys basketball team play at nationals. Brian wore one of our seniors' t-shirt for fun. Brian is not much of a "t-shirt" wearing guy so it was a big deal.

Anyway, so we drove five hours in the car and then watched a basketball game and then drove five hours home. It rained the entire way home so that wasn't very fun and even worse our boys lost....not fun at all. (This is mostly because I like to win and think it is much more fun than losing.)

However we did not mind the drive. You might call it memory lane. We make that drive several times a year. It is the path way to both my family and Brian's Kansas family. This is also the way we drive to get to Texas when we visit there. So, as we drive I am flooded with memories. Most of them make me smile....some make me shed a few tears... some even make me laugh. Honestly I wish we could make more similar memories now. We frequent the the same stops it seems....the Panera at Rolla, the Starbucks on both sides of St Louis, the rest stop on the south tip of Illinois....I could bore you with more but I will stop there.

Traveling with Regan was an adventure. Some would call it crazy but we loved it. We still miss her most when we are all in the car together. We find ourselves bored and wishing she needed us somehow. She doesn't. So we stay bored. We listen to our "Regan songs" on our ipods and pat each other.

I remember when we took her to be laid to rest in Oklahoma...this is the path we took. All of my sibilings, their spouses and children along with my parents in a long funeral procession from Illinois to Oklahoma. We like to remember that it was also the fastest one too (those of you who have driven with Brian understand this). On that drive all the red bud's where in bloom. The interstate was lined with purple buds....these reminded me that God was close by.....all creation declares it. Though the cars we passed had no idea what we were doing God saw us on our journey. He didn't miss a moment.

I wonder how long these memories will flood my mind. I still have half my life left. I hope they always will. It is what I have left...memories.This is Regan riding in the van.....see I told you she loved to ride in the van! She was our traveling baby! She even had to wear two seat belts.
Okay so sometimes they slept......still really great memories!

3 comments:

Vera Lu said...

Thanks so much for sharing Regan's sparkling eyes with us today!

Dan and Tammy said...

My dear friend, I am so glad that the Lord gives us good memories to have when we don't have the people with us. Praying for your family during this time of year. Love you so much!

Stacy Peacock said...

What a beautiful picture. Of course, how could it not be? Sometimes memory lane trips are refreshing even if they make our hearts hurt. The smiles are still instilled there as well. You will have them with you as long as you want to.