You know those moments that are so awesome you can grab them and hold put them in your pocket to take out later and still enjoy them? My favorite of those moments of all time was last June. I had just sold the coffee shop I was not wanting to own and had this massive life plan ahead of me. I was taking a two week break between the old and the new to embark on a road trip. I spent the first three days driving across the country singing along to my favorite 50 CDs and my talkative son was bouncing behind me in the back seat. We had a detailed trip plan which included stopping at every single last one of “The World’s Largest…” oddball roadside attractions in the more than 3000 miles of highway we traveled. What made that moment was not that we were going on the super-fun-and-relaxing-at-the-same-time trip. It was that the final day of my employment ended on such a repulsively disturbing note that the act of walking out the door and starting up the ignition was quite possibly the purest form of joy I had ever felt. Yeah it’s darn cheesy, but it was Thelma and Louise-esque and someday I will own the rights to the story and you will pay 8.50 to watch it.
I have had other moments like that, and certainly not all were bittersweet. I recently got an complementary email that made my entire decade. I went to my first ever parent teacher meeting this fall and after weeks of wondering if my son was doing well I found out that he had received the highest scores on the reading and math skills tests of all the kids in his kindergarten (I am unapologetically bragging here)
But I want to have these moments more often. And they cannot be created. I think you just have to leave opportunity in your life for such moments. I think there is only one such solution to my craving. I need to go on another trip. Or maybe there’s two, I could win the lottery.
You know all those people you have had your lottery pact with? You know the one: If I ever win the lottery, you get a chunk. What a stupid thing to say.
The end.
The Pilver 
These posts keep getting better. I mean by huge leaps! Can’t wait to read your novel.
Hooray for Max! He sounds like a really smart little guy. Just his observations and what he says shows how intelligent he is. What a kid.
Road trips are bliss….come to Seattle, partake in the excellent coffee, ride a ferry w/ the freezing wind in your face, see the fam, rejuvinate. It’ll be AWESOME!!!
My travel itch has been awakened…can I come?
essaytch- yeah, I requested two weeks off in June for exactly that same thing. And being as my parents now live in Bremerton I will be on that ferry plenty. As soon as I cross the border into Washington I am sure there will be involuntary squeals making their way out of me.
Billy-thanks so much! I appreciate that.
Ah those moments.
They happen unannounced and unplanned and always at the behest of serendipity.
Priceless…. and not in a Mastercard kind of way.
Love what you’re writing Miss K!
LK
I don’t remember the last time I had one of those moments. I’m sure if I think for a while, I’ll remember. Dammit, we always seem to be overdue for them. But yes (let’s all say this together): That’s what makes them special. haha
“I think you just have to leave opportunity in your life for such moments.”
Exactly!!! You can’t make them happen, but if you leave the doors and windows open just a crack, you’ll find plenty to put in your pocket.
Max definitely got his grandma’s genes! Hey! Let’s do another road trip. Remember, your dad is retired.