ROAD TRIPPING

I’m on vacation. A road trip. 3012 miles round-trip to be exact. Colorado to North Carolina to Arkansas and back. I stopped for the night in the middle of Kansas. Just had dinner at a BBQ joint where the waitress called me “hon.” That’s short for “honey” for those unfortunate enough to have never visited Hays, KS…or Asheville, NC…or Little Rock, AR.

I love being called “hon.” I love warm summer nights and the sound of cicadas. I love sausage biscuits with egg and McDonald’s coffee. I love hiking with my son and wedding gown shopping with my future daughter-in-law. I love books on tape. I love watching TV with my dad and step-mom. I love curling up in the bed on Bosley Drive. I think I could sleep in that bed for three straight days without waking.

I love vacation. I love temporarily vacating the space where my brain spins and spins. That space feels the need to take on the weight of the world. To be more.

Yesterday I visited my mom’s grave. I fluffed up the flowers my sister had recently put there, marveled at the quiet beauty of the place, hugged my dad…and thought about my own future gravestone, hoping it won’t read “She Got a Lot Done.” I want it to read…

“She Got It.”

What I mean is this. I want to be all God wants me to be. All. Not less, but not more. Motion isn’t the same as progress. I want to get the “it” of life. I don’t want to miss it because I was too busy.

Road tripping helps me get back to “it.” What centers you?