I never understood why they did it. I thought they were ridiculous. Boy was I wrong; I was so short-sighted.
My former in-laws would drive three-plus hours to visit my big boys when they were little. They would stay only a few hours and leave. As a young 20-year-old-something mother, I could not wrap my head around it. I was such a little brat and wondered why would they do that and not stay longer, complaining the whole time. I’m embarrassed to admit that I did not get it and I was so short-sighted.
As I sit and type, now almost 30 years later, I get it.
My 27-year-old son and his wife just had their second child. They live 564 miles away.
On the last day of school for my littles, we took off for a whirlwind of a 564-mile trip. We drove until about midnight and then crashed at the hotel. We got up the next morning and spent the entire day with my son and his family and got to meet our brand new grandson. We played and ate and talked and had the best day. At bedtime, we scooted back to the hotel. We woke up the next day and knew we only had until noon before heading back 564 miles.
In a matter of 57 hours, we spent 20 of those driving and 20 of those sleeping in the hotel, which left 17 hours to love on our kids and grandkids. And it was worth every single second.
I get it now, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It makes every quick trip to the East Coast worth it, and every quick trip to Indy to love on our grandsons worth it.
Learn from me, don’t be short-sighted. Every second you can spend with your loved ones is worth it.
