Gratitude 32: Family Outings

 

This weekend is my parents’ annual camping trip with my kids!  I wanted so much to join them but was unable to make it.  Thinking about the whole kit-n-kaboodle of them camping together in some idyllic spot brought back so many memories of my family camping trips, and other family outings, too.  More than the clothes, toys, houses, cars, etc., it is those things we do together–sitting together around the campfire or at the dinner table, hiking through the woods or strolling through the neighborhood to admire folks’ gardens and landscaping, telling ghost stories in the tent late at night or reading bedtime stories together when tucked safely in bed for the night.  These are the things that create memories.  This is the glue that seals our devotion to each other. The “remember whens” of life add the color, the warmth, the texture to our life’s pallette.  Family outings; i remember them with affectionate warmth.  And, not to forget, Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there, especially my dad and my son–both Dads extraordinaire!  I am grateful for family outings. . . and for dads everywhere!