After three years we decided it was finally time to return to the city where we lived the longest together, the city where we became parents, the city Huck can always call his hometown. And because we are Troy & Jonny and rarely do anything the easy or efficient way, we drove 22 hours there and 22 hours back. It wasn’t until we were creeping along Fifth Avenue at Central Park that our Arkansas Honda Civic began speaking to us in her calm, yet concerned southern dialect.  ”Y’all?” she sweetly asked.  ”Is this a good idea?”

We began and ended our vacation in Virginia at our former summer home, also known as where Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Dottie live.  Leaving their part of the country was a difficult decision, and if you’ve ever met them you know we had a delightful time.  We five enjoyed the orchard and the vineyard, playing Mexican Train dominos, eating on the deck, walking around Old Town and worrying over politics. We also loved visiting cousins Heather, Elliott, Bryce, Carter and Emma Belle where we took our traditional Couch Series Kid Pictures. It was here that I decided the best way to mark the passing of time is by the growth of trees and children. In both Virginia and New York, trees now block familiar sights and children are either my height or taller.  Pretty much everyone and everything else happily looked exactly the same.  

We left the comfort and security of Virginia for three nights in New York.  Huck was pretty nervous for this part of the trip. Maybe he worried about living up to his famous identity as New York City Kid when, like our car, he practically wears Arkansas license plates now. Maybe he worried his parents would get cranky over everything again. Maybe he felt the shyness that comes with being away for so long. Whatever it was, he got over it and admitted that being in New York was “awesome.” Having his oldest friend Kadin by his side both evenings and our last half-day made the visit for him.

In preparation for this epic journey, we three read “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” during the evenings leading up to our trip.  Our dear friend Enid has starred in this beautiful play since it opened on Broadway nearly two years ago, and she got us some wonderful up close tickets for the Wednesday matinee. The book is a math lover’s dream (each chapter is a prime number), so turning it into a play meant there was something for all three of us. Post-curtain call, the main character reappeared to passionately describe in great detail how he solved a very complicated math equation that ended with celebration confetti, reminding me of a certain 11 year old that loves to talk my ears off. Enid gave us a backstage tour, and while we three talked Huck began scooping up piles of math confetti off the ground and shoving them into Troy’s backpack, making him the only New York City tourist to bring home hundreds of tiny white tissue paper square souvenirs.

Following the play was our beloved Castle Village picnic with beloved neighborhood friends with whom we raised babies together for eight years.  I can’t look at them without being flooded with millions of memories, and all I can say is the sun set too quickly on that magical day.

There are lots of other special people and sights and smells and feelings we experienced during our summer vacation down many memory lanes, and as we pulled up to our house far, far away in Fayetteville, relieved that we survived the many hours in the car and the 11 states we drove through, we were glad for where we came from and oh so glad to where we returned.

Our church has changed a lot, but there’s that LOVE poster Troy hung over 3 years ago.