The Happiest Place on Earth

Now this post will seem like a "duh!" post, but I think it bears observation anyway. Last week my family and I went to Florida to visit my husband's parents and the beach and Disney World.

It was, in a nutshell, the best family vacation we have ever had.

We left behind stresses of daily life, (other than the fact that the kids had to take their homework), and enjoyed living entirely in the moment. The beach was wonderful, even when it rained, my father and mother-in-law were delightful and the kids loved seeing them, and 2 of 3 Disney days were absolute perfection. (The 1 day that wasn't so much perfection was because it was like wandering through the seven levels of hell in terms of heat and humidity).

I wondered why we don't have such heavenly bliss all the time at home--what was it about the circumstances that made it so wonderful? Of course it was the whole leaving-stress-at-home thing and not having to work. I'm sure that certainly helped. But as I thought about it, I realized that this alone isn't enough. If I were there by myself, I would not have enjoyed it to even a fraction of the degree that I experienced with the people I love. In fact, when Mark was in Daytona with a coworker last year, I thought he would be over the moon. He had a good time with his friend, but every time he called me, his conversation ran along the lines of, "I wish you were here!" And I would say, "But isn't it wonderful?" And he would say, "Well, yes, but...I wish you guys were here!"

I realized that even if I were on an eternal vacation at the most wonderful places my little heart can imagine, it wouldn't be heaven without my family. So all told, I'd rather be with them during the daily grind than on vacation without them.

But perhaps in the next life, we can spend a fair amount of time sitting by the shore and taking nice, deep breaths, body surfing and playing in the sand. Together. :-)