Here is a vacation story when I was about 13 years old. Our family (Mom, Dad, me, and my sister, who was 17) were going to Disneyland. My sister and I had planned and planned and looked at maps. We were so excited. I don’t think Mom or Dad were that excited at all, but they knew we were. We’d been talking about it ever since Disneyland opened a few years before we planned to go.
So my dad, who is a car mechanic–a really good one–gets his boss to lend him a car that has air conditioning, because we are driving there and it;s probably going to be hot, and my Mom hates to be hot.
So we took off, and along the way we stopped at Zions National Park the next morning. While we stopped and parked and went into a gift shop, something really bad happened in the car’s engine. All of the electrical wiring burned up! Without all the wires, the engine won’t even start or run at all. There’s no parts store or garage in Zions. But, my very smart and kind Dad spent the hot day out in the parking lot fixing the engine using only what he had is his small tool box–while we lounged in the gift shop and cafe…waiting..(and worrying).
He was out in the sun so long that the top of his forehead and head got sunburned, and it turned into a huge blister that covered the whole top of his head! He hardly mentioned it, and certainly didn’t complain. He actually was able to fix the car, to our great joy; however, he could not fix the AC! Over the next few hours of driving across the hot desert at night, that whole fluid-filled blister sagged down toward his eyes, making him look like an owl, but he was so determined that we have a great vacation that he did everything with joy and enthusiasm!
He seemed to love Disneyland, and he even barked like the seals in Knott’s Berry Farm..and he never complained.
Now, that was love! The kind of love families have. No one will ever love you like your family does. Try to notice the kind things they do for you all the time, and know how lucky you are to have a fun-loving family.
You know…I don’t know that I ever thanked my Dad for all he did for us on that vacation..Be sure to see the kind things your Mom and Dad do for you, and just a quick thank you sentence will mean a lot to them.
Also, when I was in grade school, I noticed a cute plush elephant in the window of the Lowe Drug store in Montpelier. I mentioned it to Mom and Dad, but they didn’t have a lot of money, and couldn’t just always buy me what I wanted. One day my Dad said he’d drive me back to school after lunch (I wold walk home for lunch) and he stopped by the Lowe Drug and bought me the elephant! I was so happy!
The Lowe Drug elephant is on the left. They are all dressed in robes I made from washcloths.