I love to hear the stories Prentice tells about his family and his growing up years. Some are very sad, some are unusual to say the least, and some are nothing short of hilarious. The story that always comes to mind this time of year is about the Great Family Vacation of 1958.
It was the spring of Prentice’s second grade year in school when his father first delighted the family with the prospect of a dream vacation to California. The family would leave in early July, he said, on the big kahuna of vacation trips—a trip to end all trips featuring stops in Texas, New Mexico, San Francisco, Southern California (to visit realatives), and Hollywood, all leading up to the grand finale, three exciting and action packed days at the biggest and most magical kingdom on earth, DISNEYLAND!!!
As the school year drew nearer to its end, his Dad mentioned that family finances necessitated a minor change in plans. Nothing big, just a minor tweak to the itinerary. Information gleaned from AAA vacation planning pamphlets indicated that three weeks on the road was going to be a bit more expensive than originally anticipated, so the dream trip would have to be slightly abbreviated and packed into only two weeks. And, Hollywood would have be dropped from the sightseeing destinations. Still, it was two weeks that would end at DISNEYLAND!!!
Not many days after that announcement Prentice’s father reluctantly informed the family that finances were considerably tighter than he had thought. San Francisco was definitely out as well as one of the days at Disneyland.
By the end of June, when the family should have been making last minute preparations and packing the car for the trip, the other shoe, the weighty and worn shoe of disappointment, dropped with a thud. The dream vacation would remain just that—a dream.
The mother of all trips had shrunk to one full day of festivities at the local putt-putt golf course for Prentice and his older brother, a thrilling day of fun complete with Cokes, Tom’s peanuts, and a dip in the Seagoville municipal swimming pool adjacent to the 8-hole putt-putt course.
Prentice never knew what caused the dream vacation to dissolve. What did it matter? The trip was off and putt-putt was on. He was pleased enough with the soda pop and peanuts, but it really wasn’t Disneyland. He couldn’t help being disappointed, but he knew his Dad was disappointed too.
There is an old saying about the best laid plans of men, and women. How often do we make great plans only to watch them reduced to not-so-great plans, eroded by circumstances beyond our control?
The current worldwide economic downturn has made most of us tighten our belts, some more than others. I don’t know how many dream vacations planned for this summer will turn into a day at the local miniature golf course. Probably quite a few.
If you’ve been a victim of evaporating vacation dreams or just find yourself looking for something to do this summer, I have a few suggestions. Volunteer to help an elderly neighbor clean the yard, or get a bag and pick up the litter that always shows up along the streets in your neighborhood. It’s hot outside, so cool down with a few trips through your lawn sprinkler. Pretend you’ve just come from the swimming hole.
Take a quiet midnight walk with someone special to you. Slather on some bug repellant, light the citronella candles and talk into the night on your front porch with someone whose company you love.
The point, I guess, is to enjoy what you have rather than fretting about what you don’t. Have fun at what you can do rather than be bummed out about what you can’t.
You know, that putt-putt course was a blast the last time you went. It likely still is.
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One year we were going to visit New York and the Statue of Liberty. New York city was a thousand miles from the town I lived in. We all got in the car and set out for the two week trip but the car overheated and burned out several valves before we got twenty miles from our house. That was the end of the vacation. My aunt came and picked us kids up and drove us back to our home, and my sisters and I played in the lawn sprinkler the rest of the afternoon and built our own Statue of Liberty out of mud and sticks.
At this point, Cas and I would settle for a trip to Atlanta for a burger at the Varsity….tell Prentice it ain’t Disneyland but I bet it would be just as good!!
What’s a vacation? My 401k wouldn’t buy a pair of movie tickets anymore, but not to worry. I’m taking a vacation in my own back yard this summer. I’ve discovered things back there that I never imagined before because I never took the time to look. Flowers, plants and creatures of all kinds. It’s enough to keep me busy all summer!