kaitlincarolan
I'm not a coward. I didn't study abroad for other reasons. Sure, there was a part of me that was afraid to leave my family, but given the circumstances, I would have been crazy to go.
The divorce was just about over when I was supposed to leave. Things were bad. Really bad. I called my mom every morning just to make sure she was still alive. When my dad would go on a rampage, nothing in his path was safe. Even people.
When I think of summer, I think of traveling. My family took many trips in the summer when I was growing up; most of these trips were around my home state of Michigan. We would load up the car and leave behind all of our troubles as we explored caves, dunes, forests, beaches and quaint, unheard of cities. Our itinerary was always loose– we had an idea of what we wanted to do and we would do it. There was no pressure to hit every spot on the map in just one vacation.
Many of our trips were influenced by places my mom went when she was growing up. Her dad was proud of our state and made sure his children knew as much about it as possible. He would stop at every historical marker he could find, just to help his kids absorb everything. It’s something that my mom has taken to doing, though we’d prefer she didn’t.
I'm sure it'll become a running joke through the generations. When I travel, I'll stop at every historical marker and force my kids to read it. My brothers will do the same. Their kids will repeat. It'll become a great tradition that we'll do and will always smile.
Summer is about traditions.