Reflecting on vacation, life changes

When my 27-year-old was 21, he agreed to go on a vacation with my husband and me to Florida, and I was thrilled.

We didn’t see him often enough, even though he lived in the same town, and I’ve always enjoyed being trapped in a car with my kids for 10 hours or so. Seriously. Forced bonding is the way to go. Only this time, I was trapped for 10 hours with my older son and his girlfriend.

Our now 24-year-old son hates to go on long trips. Meaning one more than 10 minutes. So my husband and I agreed he could stay home alone when he was 17. He’s trustworthy, and we did let his older brother go alone to Austria when he was 16. (I must have lost my mind, but it turned out fine.)

My husband and I are getting ready to go on a quick trip to Florida by ourselves to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, which was Oct. 10, and I’m reflecting on past trips.

So here’s what I remember about the trip back in 2011. My older son texted me and asked, “Can I take a woman?” I texted back: “It depends on the woman.” He’d been dating a girl for about three months, but we hadn’t met her.

He told me her name, and I knew that she was pretty, thanks to some Facebook creeping. (Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.)

I told him she could go with us, but I didn’t want to wait to meet her the day before the trip.

He brought her over the week before. I’m lucky he did that much.

She wasn’t sure about going on vacation with her boyfriend’s parents, but we took them out to eat, and I think we were sufficiently unintimidating and funny.

She was a student and a waitress, and she and I have the same high standards for our wait staff.

When we picked them up to leave for Florida, I noticed she was reading a book about the U.S. Supreme Court, the same one I’d bought my father-in-law.

Score! Smart girl. I asked her the ultimate question: “Do you like to shop?” She said definitely yes. Double score!

We played the alphabet game in the van on the way, and within five minutes, Girlfriend said, “This family is really competitive.” Well, only in things that matter in life, like the alphabet game.

We had a great few days relaxing on the beach, eating out (she and I had a thing for a slice of heaven called Chocolate Stampede), shopping (she loves shoes, too) and playing cards at night (she and I beat the boys).

I learned a lot on that trip. I love pecan-encrusted grouper. It’s a good idea to always have a towel with you on the beach so when the hook on your old bathing suit top breaks, you can cover up. When your son asks if he can bring his new girlfriend on a family vacation, just say yes. If she can survive that, she’s a keeper.

Fast-forward to 2017. My older son and this former girlfriend are celebrating their third wedding anniversary this week, and they have given us the joy of our lives, our 5-month-old granddaughter, Kennedy.

Keepers, every one of them.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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