cuamygirl: Monumental Summer

It is certainly a monumental summer. For starters, this summer will mark the FIRST summer in the last 12 years that my parents have not helped my sister Ashley or myself move. Ash and I always commenced our moving exercises in the dead heat of summer. Ash and I ususally lived in places with no fewer than two flights of stairs. We've moved from dorms to home, from home to apartments, from apartments to apartments, from apartments to houses, and from apartments to San Diego. I would assume that our parents are tired of moving their daughters from place to place. I would also assume that this monumental summer, with its lack of movement, has not gone unnoticed by our parental units. So by assumption, you would generally think after all these moves and all this time that they would be tired. Monumentally tired would be my guess.

But that, in fact, is not the case. Our parents have an energy and a drive that escapes me. If you met our mother you would find that she really is the energizer bunny trapped in a human body wearing tennis shoes. If you met our father you would find that he really is a trooper despite his love of Sunday afternoon naps. They work all week long, have date night every Wednesday night with our second set of parents, travel on the weekends, stay up later than we do, and get up earlier than we do. Energy, my friends, energy.

Most SC visits by my parents over the last 12 years have involved some sort of heavy lifting, lots of stairs, lots of sweltering summer heat, and lots of hard work. Did they help us move because they had to? No, they did it because they wanted to. They came to join our experience, to spend some time with us, and to help ease our burden. I think Ashley would say "ditto" to my thoughts.

So, it is also monumental that this summer, my mom journeyed down to SC, for the first time ever, without the accompaniment of my father. She came to use mandated vacation and my dad stayed home to work and watch after the cats. And for the first time that I can recall, Kade and I were able to get my mom to not work on her visit. That task in itself is monumental.

Instead we chose to climb mountains with her. Massive mountains. With lots of stairs. In the middle of summer. I guess the only difference between this visit and the last 12 years is that there was nothing to move. No furniture. No boxes. The only thing that required moving were her legs as she climbed to the top and then to the bottom of the mountain and the waterfalls. Dad better rest up. Next time we're taking him climbing!