I love Fall, the leaves are starting to change, football has started, and it makes for good cuddling weather.
When I think of Fall, I think of our family vacation trips to Gatlinburg, TN, to Dollywood, and the numerous visits to Cracker Barrel. I think we visited every Cracker Barrel from Mississippi to Tennessee. My parents always wanted to leave late at night or early morning "thinking" my kids would sleep on the way - NOT. As soon as they loaded up in the van, they were ready to be there. My daughter went through a stage where she refused to get off of any roller coaster ride, the more daring, the more she loved it. She had no fear of rides, and loved the speed, turns and upside down motion and never screamed except when you forced her to get off.
My son was always fascinated by the Eagle shows at Dollywood. We happened to be there right before they were getting ready to release some Eagles out into the wild. I have a lot of memories from those trips, and am glad my kids were able to experience so much. If you've never experienced a family road trip, you need to do it at least once in your life.
If we didn't go to Tennessee for Thanksgiving, we spent Thanksgiving usually at my grandmother's. Every year my grandmother made homemade chicken and dumplings and lima beans. We would have turkey, dressing, and all the trimmings, but her chicken and dumplings beat anything. I miss the family gatherings, dinners on the ground, and spending time with family both near and afar. I miss the anticipation of visits, of the holidays, and I miss having all the family together. Seems life has taken us in different directions and in different areas of the states, lives are busy, too busy to take time out and spend moments making memories with each other.
Maybe we all need to take more time for each other, drop a note, make a phone call, and plan a trip to all be together. We can't undo yesterday, we're only promised today. There's a song that states we should live everyday like it's our last. Maybe we should remember that, what would we do if it were our last day? Would we spend time alone, spend time filling in all the minutes with those we love? Dance as though no one was watching? Be carefree? Love like no other? If we did it on our last day, why not do it everyday? Make memories ... spend time with family and friends and just enjoy having each moment with each other.
