The Road to Harvard: The Preface

So we are HERE. Next week marks one month in our house in New England. Getting here was more than I could have imagined. It was full of unexpected experience with the four people I love most in the world. It was an adventure that I would take on again and again. I would not trade this summer for a summer anywhere else. I told Son1 that he may never have a summer like this ever again.

The road here was emotional. And by road, I don't mean the freeways or highways. And by emotional, I do not mean I cried. There were some moments of intense happiness, moments of peace, moments of excitement, and moments of reflection. They are treasures to me.

Last night I was making some temporary edits to my blog. My eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw that I had only made 11 blog posts in 2010. There was a year I made 261 blog posts. That is not this year. We have lived life, really lived life, almost every waking hour.

My only regret is not having shared the good life with anyone else.

In the last few hours I decided that I must write about this summer, and not just blow past the past. It was one of the most life changing events for me. I felt God speak to me in a tangible way. I fell more in love with my husband. My kids grew a more distinct brotherhood. I cannot believe I would admit this, but I actually saw the beauty in a road trip from San Diego to Boston, rather than choosing to jet across the miles in an airplane. Some years ago I vowed early in motherhood to fly rather than drive at all costs. My eldest two boys have logged some serious airplane miles in their young lives. When we lived in Hawaii I flew 2500 miles many times with the older two boys. I made that flight sometimes with the whole family. I also made that long trek alone with an infant and then alone while pregnant with the second and an active toddler, and finally with two small children and pregnant with a third. Traveling with them was manageable, but difficult. I only thought a road trip might be more crazy. I was wrong. Driving was easy, even with our family split between two cars, pulling a trailer.

So this is a new beginning point for me. This is a point of leaving the familiar, experiencing the unplanned, arriving differently than when we had left. But this time, you are coming, too.