Last week about half our family drove 2½ hours to Elgin, Nebraska, to meet up with friends I'd met while in college and to visit our former associate pastor, Father Vogel, in his new hometown.
Road trips. When else can you spend hours with the people you love, together in the close confines of a car, sharing in-depth conversations, laughs, a few squabbles and even some odd smells?
And music. What would a long car trip be without a soundtrack?
Finding songs we all enjoy can be tough for our family because of our range in age and tastes. But usually we find something. Throughout a trip, we might find ourselves returning to certain songs, artists or types of music. And a theme develops.
On one vacation, we listened more than once to a CD of Irish pub songs. The kids picked up the lyrics quickly, and we'd all sing along. I had to caution them not to sing the songs at school or other places where the words might be deemed inappropriate. Not everyone appreciates a child singing: "And it's all for me grog, me jolly, jolly grog. All for me beer and tobacco."
On our most recent trip, we developed a Dean Martin theme. It's hard to resist "That's Amore" mixing young love with Italian food. Or the sweet, nostalgic, lifetime love described in "Memories Are Made of This."
By the last leg of the drive home, we'd listened to ol' Dino for a fifth, sixth, maybe seventh time over two days. I thought I'd be tired of the music, but I wasn't. It was the backdrop for the new happy memories we made over two days: eating spaghetti around a dinner table at our hosts' home while Father Vogel talked about the mischief he got into in college (you'll have to ask him about that for yourselves); standing under a wind turbine as the blades above whizzed around at 200 mph; watching a movie under the stars while enjoying a cool breeze; listening to an astute college student explain prehistoric life as she patiently, tediously scraped away limestone to uncover ancient horse bones; finding treasures for a bargain at a thrift store; trying our hand at organ-playing, at the invitation of a kind, retired choir director who welcomed us to explore her church one afternoon.
It was a simple trip, with simple pleasures. But they formed "sweet, sweet memories," like the ones Dean Martin sang of:
"See how the flavor stays. These are the dreams you will savor."
Thank you, Lord, for memories made of this.
Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.
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