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The last family road trip I took with my parents took place a year ago. I was on 3 weeks of vacation, and my parents were going to take a trip to visit my dying grandfather. I flew across the country from east to Midwest to my parents house with my 1 year old son. Then, we all piled into the car and drove 600 miles north to see my grandparents. I hadn't been on a real road trip with my parents for nine years, and this was probably the last one I ever will take like that. This road trip was especially special.

We packed the car to go. My dad packed our suitcases into the car, my mom packed pillows, and we got together driving music. Growing up, we always listened to country music, which I rarely listen to on my own. So, it was almost like a treat to get together some of the older country music we used to listen to on road trips. We all piled in and took off. As we got beyond the area where local stations are relevant, I searched through the CD's to find something we could all listen to and appreciate. Immediately, I found one that I hadn't listened to in probably the same amount of time since my last road trip with my parents. I put it in, turned up the radio, and we all began singing along. I think it amazed my parents that I knew every word to the songs that I hadn't listened to in nine years.

Going to visit my dying grandfather really opened my eyes to how little time I have left with my own parents. And we both realized how much we missed each other. I had been away from home and married for three years, and I felt like I hardly talked to my family at all. Being there on that trip with my parents, I talked to them about everything. We talked about my childhood, about realizations I had encountered as I grew older, about their lives, about my dreams and goals, about everything. I think it amazed them where I had found myself in life. I think it touched them that I expressed my understanding and even appreciation of the material things I didn't have and the emotional stability that I did have while growing up. I think that, when they thought of how they wanted their children to be when we grew up, they thought of me exactly as we were in that moment, and they realized their dreams for their children had come true in me.

No matter what happens in the rest of my life, that road trip was one I will remember forever. It meant many things to me. It meant a deeper understanding between my parents and me, a memory that I can always reach back and smile about, and it also meant the last time I saw my grandfather alive. He passed away the following April, which began a whole new road trip that I took with my husband and son, but that is a completely new story. I love road trips. You get so much time to learn about each other, and to really see the things that you almost missed.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Kelley.
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