LadyFish
Admiral
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2003
- Messages
- 6,894
I took my first solo road trip last week from Galveston to Tennessee. At first I was a little nervous about traveling by myself especially stopping at rest areas, etc.<br /><br />I broke the trip down into two days leaving last Sunday to arrive Monday night at my Dads. I've been to Louisiana quite a few times and was prepared for the road construction and scenery. I was really surprised how beautiful the drive through Mississippi was and if I had to rate the cleanest most secure and friendly rest stops in the 1,800 mile round trip, Mississippi ranks number one. Natchez Trace was really beautiful with Cardinals flying everywhere, an occassional deer, and even had an opportunity to see vulchers up close picking away at the many possoms that fell prey to vehicular traffic.<br /><br />When I arrived at my Dad's, only 3 miles away from from Fort Campbell we went into town to pick up a few things. Everyone was so friendly and cordial. Doors were opened for me, a complete stranger carried my bag of ice to the car and everyone just seem to all be smiling and happy to do their job. No sour pusses, people seem to make a special effort to go out of their way to be friendly. Being close to the base, military personnel were everywhere and it was nice to share a smile and a hello with those who serve.<br /><br />Embarrassingly, it's been nearly 10 years since I spent any time with my father. The last time we saw eachother was at a family reunion with far too many people around to have any one on one time.<br /><br />He and I made the rounds in Clarksville and had a great time joking and jabbing one another and for the first time in a very long time, I felt like a child again. He waited on me hand and foot and treated me like a princess. Opening car doors, pulling my chair out for me...all the little gestures I remember he did for my Mom. He even brought me to a full service gas station and had all my fluids checked, the air in the tires, filled it up with "high test" and took me to have the car washed. The morning before I left I had to wait while he wiped all the dew off my windows and packed a cooler full of gooies for me.<br /><br />My relationship with my father had been strained for many years and this was an important visit for both of us especially now that he is over 70.<br /><br />I guess I had never developed a relationship with him on an adult level before since we'd only seen eachother a total of 4 times in the past 25 years and it was always with lots of other family members around. I found how much we are alike and that we both felt this immense void in our lives for way too long.<br /><br />I'm posting this to encourage anyone who hasn't spent quality time with their parents to do so before its too late and all you have to live with is regrets. Forgive them and forget any differences you may have had in the past. The rewards are incredible.<br /><br />I had a wonderful time and fell in love with the people and the countryside in the great state of Tennessee. 
