The following quote, by Robert Louis Stevenson, capture the need we all have for family and community:
To be honest, to be kind—to earn a little and spend little less, to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence, to renounce when that shall be necessary and not to be embittered, to keep a few friends, but these without calculation—above all, on the same grim condition, to keep friends with himself—here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy. (Stevenson quoted in Bartlett F.Q. 825)
This summer, for the first time in my life, I cried when I watched a part of my family drive away. I spent a week with my sister, Mandi, and her husband, Barry, and her son, Trustin. The week consisted of swimming,…show more content… Later, Mandi and I went to watch Trustin in his musical production, The Music Man. After Trustin’s performance, we went to eat ice cream and then, shopping on main street. Mandi and her family live in Grand Lake, a tourist town in Colorado. Mandi lives with the hippy era daily. This is one reason that I revere Mandi, her connection with nature. This reason alone is why we went shopping, so we could scavenge the local hippy stores. I found essential oils that I’m now addicted to, Love Potion and Lavender. Then, after shopping, we decided to return home, pick up the dogs, and take them swimming. Taking the dogs swimming, inspired Mandi and Trustin to encourage me to swim in Shadow Mountain Lake. Being from Kansas, I was not an enormous devotee of the freezing Colorado waters. Rushing to submerge my whole body, instead of making my body suffer, was shocking. As I sat as quickly as possible on the rocks that were 2 feet below the surface, I felt as though my body had just fallen through a frozen lake that was just beginning to thaw at the first signs of…show more content… Again, just having a great time, enjoying the little moments with my family, made me feel like I was prosperous. After doing some other fun activities like miniature golf and rock panning, we decided to eat dinner at a local pizza parlor. This place was decorated in a unique fashion. Every single wall in the building, was covered with dollar bills. People are allowed to decorate a bill and, then, put it up anywhere on the walls, and umpteen people have. Trustin elucidated that he and his friend decorated one, but his bill was lost among several others. While we waited for our food, Trustin and I spent at least ten dollars’ worth of quarters on stickers and tattoos from which lined the front of the store. On our way back home, we elected to rent movies called, Spy and The Vacation. We all flocked together and watched The Vacation. A few minutes into the movie, we were in tears from all the chortling. I valued being able to watch a movie that I enjoyed, especially with someone else who loved it just as much. I find that few people like the same movies as me, so I watch the majority of them by myself. This moment alone, made me want to stay with Mandi for the rest of my life. When the movie was, sadly over, the decision was made to be off to bed, due to the fact we had a road trip the next
