Take a Vacation!

Have you developed a philosophy of life about vacations? Dumb question. Of course you have, even if you haven’t put it into words. For most of us, in the early years of our marriage and raising our children, the philosophy was, “We don’t have any money for a vacation and our vacation days are limited, so…which relative can we visit?” This is especially true if you were (or are) like us and had family many states away. Our children’s grandparents didn’t get to see them unless we made the trip from Northern Virginia to Searcy, Arkansas once or twice every year. Some years, Donna would even take the kids to see them without me, so I could save my limited vacation days. I don’t regret it. In fact, I cherish those memories of Christmas and summer trips to the Arkansas farm to see two of the best in-laws any person could wish for. Big country breakfast, where we sat around talking and laughing and plotting what we were going to have for lunch and dinner. The kids loved it! Often Donna’s sisters or brother and their families would be there and we packed that tiny four room ONE BATHROOM house and create memories that we all still talk about today – especially since those sweet grandparents are no longer with us.

But then…the kids were all gone, nearly all out of college, and we decided we wanted to have a real vacation experience – with folks we loved being with, and we’d do it regularly! We started planning and taking a cruise every two years. That was almost twenty years ago and somewhere a long the way, the every two years became every year, and we have loved every single one. The cruises have been wonderful, the stops have been interesting and mostly fun, but the shared experiences with people we enjoy being with is priceless. In my half-century as a wage earner and spender, I can’t remember were the vast majority of it all went! But, I remember and treasure every single cruise, where we went, and who was with us, and I don’t regret a single penny that I spent to make it happen. We just returned from a ten day cruise to Alaska and have already booked an exciting cruise for next summer – only a year and one week away, but who’s counting! My philosophy of life about vacations is, “Do it now because we’re closer to the end than we are the beginning. Make some great memories with the people God put in your life.” Love to have you with us! We don’t sponsor we just share. What are your plans for making some memories?