20 minutes later, they were still sitting in line, waiting their turn. They had only moved about two car lengths. It was a good thing they had filled up with gas before leaving the house. 5 year old Kevin called out from the back seat, "I'm tired! I want to go home!"
"It won't be long now" Susan said to her son. She turned to Henry and asked, "Can you see anything yet?"
"Hand me the binoculars" Henry answered.
It was a gorgeous day, clouds spotting the sky. A light breeze with the smell of honeysuckle blossoms wafted through the open windows of the car.
Henry looked through the binoculars into the distance.
"I can see two policemen directing traffic up there. That should make things move a little faster soon" he said.
6 year old Melissa announced, "I'm thirsty!" Henry looked over at his wife and asked, "Did you load the ice chest this morning?"
"Yes" said Susan. "I guess we can pass out some drinks". She opened the cooler and said, "We have water, coke, or Sunny D. What do you want Kevin?"
"I want Sunny D." Kevin answered. Handing a cold bottle to Kevin she asked her daughter, "What kind do you want Melissa?"
"I want Sunny D too" she said. "I like orange best". Susan handed her a bottle and cautioned, "Don't spill it on your new dress."
"I won't" said Melissa. "I'm a big girl now!"
"I'll take a water" said Henry. After everyone was set, Susan took a large swig from her bottle of water. "That really hit the spot" she said, brushing the bangs off of her forehead. "I think it's getting warmer now. How much longer do you think this is going to take?" she asked her husband.
Henry lifted up the binoculars again and peered ahead. "Traffic is moving now, but there is still a long double line of cars ahead of us. It might take awhile. Maybe you should give everyone a snack while we wait."
Susan pulled a pouch out of the ice chest and said, "We have raisins, or apples or homemade oatmeal bars."
"I want raisins" said Melissa.
"I want an oatmeal cookie" said Kevin.
"And I'll take an apple" said Henry.
With everyone happily munching away, Susan looked out the side window. "When did they finish that Donut Shop over there? It really went up fast!" Settling against the door panel, she saw a CVS pharmacy, a Blockbuster and a Burger King. "Maybe we can go to Burger King next Sunday" she said. "It's supposed to have that new playground inside. The kids would like that."
She felt the car move forward and looked out the windshield again. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "We're really moving now! Can you tell if the traffic is clearing out?"
Henry nodded and smiled at her. "I think we're out of the worst of it now. The line is moving fast now." Glancing back at the kids he said, "We're almost out now, kids. We'll be home before you know it."
"Yeah!" said Kevin as he began bouncing excitedly. Susan looked back and said, "Melissa fell asleep. It must have seemed longer today."
Henry smiled and said, "We'll be home in about five minutes. Do you want to have pizza delivered for lunch?"
"Sure" said Susan. "The service was really nice today, wasn't it? I really liked the special choir number." Glancing at her watch she continued, "and it only took us 45 minutes to get out of the church parking lot today."