Well not exactly. Just for the week of Thanksgiving. This might be long.
I'm looking forward to this trip for a lot of reasons, and it's arguably the most important thing I've done in a while. Concerning who I am as an adult, the choices I make and how I act towards the family that raised me and has gone through utter hell recently, I have to do things that frankly can be scary to think about.
This is the second trip I've made to visit my family in which I'm entirely self-reliant. Until the early Spring of this year my parents had been able to contribute money for traveling, typically through plane tickets. I just had to get to and from the Kalamazoo airport and then I was set to go to New Jersey, with an available car and a place to stay. Now such things are not an option, regardless of whether or not people would want to sustain such behavior at this point. Amongst the personal traumas that have frustratingly dominated much of the last 2 years, money has been much tighter than anyone expected. I guess the good part is we can all relate, since this is a pretty common story.
I feel this heightens the importance of doing a trip like this. If I don't make it happen, no one will because no one can. It's impossible to overstate how much my parents want to see me for Thanksgiving. I need to visit them in a trip that's not forced by a crisis. I'm hoping that I can enjoy visiting them without anger, paranoia and/or hurt either influencing or looming over every interaction.
New Jersey has been surprisingly hard to lose, and a lot of it I'm sure is because of the circumstances of my last visit. By the way, I have no intention of spelling out exactly what's happened. If you don't know, it might not be something I feel comfortable telling you. You can still ask.
Anyway, there's a lot I miss about the place, a lot of feelings I'm nostalgic for. However, I'm really excited to check out this area of Georgia. The scenery down in the Deep South is wonderful, both developed and natural. In particular, the swamps in the region are drawing my attention. Lately I've become very interested in wetlands, particular those in the United States. Many weekends in the last few months were dominated by walks at nature areas where I could find marshes and swamps. I even got a pair of waders for my birthday and went hiking with my friend Ryan in a completely undeveloped game area.
The southern swamps are something else entirely.
I'm bringing the family here: The Okefenokee Swamp. The plan is to rent a canoe and really get to know one of the best examples of my new interest. That I'll bring my family should only be a good thing. The road trip I took with my mom in October of last year was really fun, and I think having things like this to occupy our time will help keep the focus on what's positive.
Sunday morning at 8:30 am. That'll be my cue to head south for a bit, and I'm looking forward to good things.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Re-reading this, I wanted to add something. Saying my trip in the Spring was ENTIRELY self-reliant is a bit misleading. When I say self-reliant I mean it in regards to how I connect to my family. I didn't make the trip alone, and that helped immensely.
I chose decaf since that's all I'm allowed.
Have a safe trip, especially tackling Monteagle Mountain tomorrow.
Post a Comment