The vacation I have the greatest memories of was last summer 2013 when I finally was able to fulfill my promise to my two boys, ages 14 and 6 years old. My promise was to take them to where the water touches the sky, known as the Pacific Ocean. I had told the boy’s many times that we were going to go see the ocean but something always seemed to get in the way of doing what I wanted to do for my boy’s the most. My husband of three months helped to make the trip a reality therefore I am very blessed to have Jon in my life.
Our length of our vacation was only 5 days long and we had much to see and do before we headed back home. We set out on an early Wednesday morning leaving our home in Idaho and were heading to my hometown of Medford, OR. The day could not have been any better, as it was a beautiful morning promising us a beautiful day. We arrived in Medford mid-afternoon where we visited with family. We had dinner with my best friend John-B from high school who would also be going on the trip with us. John-B would be going on the trip with us, which we included some camping at the coast. After dinner with John-B we went and did some grocery shopping and headed to his house to pack and load what we could to make it easier for us to get on the road the following morning.
My little man woke us the following morning, “Mama, Papa, it is time to go I want to see the ocean like yesterday.” My response started with a chuckle and I teased him by saying, “Mejo` if we saw the ocean yesterday. Why should we have to go see it again today?” He said, “Mama you know what I mean you always say you seen it yesterday and I thought I would say it to you.”
Heading towards the coast our trip consisted of seeing the Redwoods. They are so beautiful and to get your arms around them like a bear hug could not be done from any of us. We caught pollywogs in a little pond and gave our legs a good workout with walking. We stopped and picked blackberries and then we were coast bound again.
We arrived at the coast in plenty of time to set up camp and then head down to the beach. My little man is autistic and even though the ocean waves were not his friend because of their loudness. He enjoyed and made my trip even better when he said, “Mama, you are right, Nana isn’t that far away from us because the water touches the sky and she is in Heaven.” My mom had just passed in March 2012 of lung cancer. Right there, the trip gave me more meaning to me. I was able to take my boys to the ocean, walk hand and hand with them, and I learned from a little man that my mom would always be near even though I could no longer see her. The vacation, “Where the Water Touches the Sky,” is one I will remember for my lifetime.
