VenableCon 2014

I love family vacations. I love my family, and I love spending time with them. When I lived far away, I looked forward to those one week reality breaks when I got to see and spend time with them non-stop for seven whole days. I would cry tears of joy when I drove over the causeway at the start of the vacation and cried bitter, already-homesick tears of despair when it came time to leave.

Even when I moved back home, same thing happened. I would still look forward to those one week reality breaks, and I would cry upon each coming and going.

That stopped last week. It was a funny feeling - going over the bridge to the island after waiting patiently for more than an hour at a standstill in beach traffic. In years' past, this one hour hiatus would kill my soul to the point where our arrival time was scheduled earlier and earlier to avoid the inevitable pile up. I would stare at the car in front of me with a laser-like glare, impatient for even the slightest inch forward to vacation and my family. This year? I read a book and absently soothed my car mates that this delay is part of the trip and the traffic would abate shortly.

I set down the book when we drove over the causeway and waited for the tears of joy. None came. I thought about this for about 48 hours when it hit me - no need to cry. I'm ok now. Life back home is ok. I'll be fine when the week is over. No need to focus on a vacation-highlight-of-my-year. Clarity has never been my strong suit, but this I got. This I understood. I'm ok now. And that's better than family beach week.