Surviving 30 hours on the road
By ERIN MAHER
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erinmaher88@gmail.com
Maher: I had a family wedding to attend this weekend. I love weddings – adore them, actually. I just think weddings are fun – the touching ceremony, the music, the dancing, the mingling with friends and family. It’s a good thing, considering the lengths we went to in order to attend this recent joining of two.
This particular wedding my family and I recently attended was beautiful. The ceremony went off without a hitch. The bride was gorgeous, the ring bearer and flower girl followed their cues, the reception room glowed and the whole thing was without a doubt a wonderful celebration.
It was the getting there part that proved to be far less enjoyable. You see, that required a 15-hour drive to Atlanta, Ga. Yes, 15 hours. Mapquest will tell you 12.5 hours. But if you ask anyone in my immediate family, they will tell you 15 – all thanks to lovely unnecessary stops we needed to make due to small bladders and hunger pangs caused by boredom. It’s safe to say my dad was far from a happy camper.
The trip was a whirlwind to say the least. Fifteen hours there, one night of sleep, a slice of cake later and we were thrown back into the minivan before the bouquet was tossed to make the 15-hour trek back home. Why should you care about my family’s wedding rendezvous? I can’t say I care all that much beyond the fact that we survived it. What is of importance is the realization that sometimes the things that are hated the most (like spending 30 hours in a car with siblings who eat up all your leg room) are the things that in the end bring people together.
Sure, we fought over which seat we wanted, pitched a few fits over the portable cell phone charger, and on more than one occasion thanked the heavens above for the iPod and the Dramamine. In the end I guess it’s times like those that make family, well, family. It’s easy to complain about all that goes along with a family road trip (the bickering, the driver’s choice of music, the nausea from the kid in the back seat, etc.) but I also know that those very things bring families together. And these are moments that will looked back upon and laughed over when we’re making questionable music choices on a road trip.
Family bonding during the car ride from hell is something I have come to appreciate. But next time, if my parents decide to create some family bonding over some first class airfare, I’m definitely not opposed.
• Erin Maher is a Sycamore resident and a graduate of Sycamore High School. She studies journalism at Western Illinois University. She can be reached at erinmaher88@gmail.com.
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