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A Family Road Trip: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Road trips are supposed to be fun, right? But often, they turn into a mixture of family togetherness and a series of disasters akin to National Lampoon’s Vacation. Here’s a recap of our recent family road trip—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Griswold Family GIFfrom Griswold GIFs Why we choose a road trip Initially, it was my husband’s idea. And, having just written a road trip games article for work, I was on board. Of course, Jonathan and I had different ideas of what a road trip was. My definition is driving to multiple places with a different route home to maximize stops at cool attractions. His idea was…
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Weddings and Funerals: Changing Relationships with Family and Friends
Most people will say they love their family and closest friends. I’m no different. I love them all dearly. But, like many people, I don’t see them often since we live in different towns, and the COVID-19 Pandemic didn’t help matters. But hasn’t it always been that way? In the olden days, people either stayed in one town their whole lives or ventured off to the wild frontier, only communicating in letters. Back then, moving away might mean never seeing family and friends again. At least in more modern times, we have phones and other electronic ways to communicate—if and when we make time to reach out. Family trees My…
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First summer beach vacation
Childhood vacations I remember the first time I went to the beach with my family when I was a teenager. We didn’t stay right on the beach, nor did we swim in the ocean, but it was an experience all the same. I remember getting to go out on the beach at night, and I saw a shooting star. I made a wish on that star to meet the man I was supposed to spend my life with by the time I was 23, and it came true. I met Jonathan right before my 23rd birthday. Road trips were always our thing because the expense of flying was out of…