As I write this, I am sitting at a desk in a hotel room in Dublin, OH.
We decided to break our road trip back East into two parts, because my mother insisted that a 12-hour drive was too much for me.
While I protested, wanting to get back to my homeland and the sparkling blue of Lake Ontario in the summertime, I was glad for the chance to rest last night.
I booked a hotel with a pool, and The Poo and I shared a special hour floating weightlessly in the warm waters. She pressed her plump cheek to mine and I was able to hold her easily for the first time in months.
As she clutched my neck in her green polka-dot swimsuit, she whispered in my ear.
“Mommy,” she said. “Will you marry me?”
Our trip yesterday was smooth. We stopped only twice, once to eat and once to pee and refuel. As I emerged from the bathroom, I saw my mom and daughter standing in front of one of those gaming machines where you have to lower the big hook and snag a prize with it.
You know, the kind you never, ever win.
My mom has an odd lucky streak for one so unlucky in her lifetime. When we are together as a family, that luck seems to intensify and spread itself around.
Once, our family went to the Adirondack mountains to stay in a friend’s cabin for a week. With no TV and little else to do after dark, we decided to go play bingo at the local lodge.
We knew my mom would win, but that night her mojo spread to the rest of us, including the friend of my sister’s along for the trip.
We won every game, laughing hysterically and fielding furious looks from the locals.
Yesterday I shook my head in amusement as my mom and daughter wrestled with the joystick on that loser’s game.
I went to get a bottle of water from the cooler, and when I returned, The Poo clutched a huge, green-spotted frog.
I stood still, hands on hip.
“I cannot believe you two won that!” I said. The Poo laughed and showed me her frog.
My mom beamed back at me and shrugged.
“You two should hit the slots in Vegas,” I told them. “You’d be rich.” A man standing nearby laughed and agreed with me.
It is a vision I will always hold in my head; two sides of one lucky coin, standing together in a roadside truck stop, holding hands and a stuffed green frog.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
How lovely.
That’s the best.
I just love how you tell your daily stories. Really wonderful.
On a side note–My brother is like either genius or lucky at those claw machines and almost always wins something–has since we were young!
Glad you are taking it slow, not rushing at this stage.
Enjoy your visit.
such a sweet image to treasure always.
So happy for these sweet memories you are growing, my friend.
I love that quote “Mommy, will you marry me?” Could the Poo get any sweeter?
Sweet story. My “Poo” is already seven and I still treasure his whispered sweet nothings and pats on my cheeks. I suppose he’ll outgrow it one of these days so for now I cling to them.
Happy traveling. These are precious memories you will keep forever.
Such a wonderful story and a wonderful memory.
That’s it,…you’re moving back to the east coast to be with your aging Mommy. And sister (lucky you!) Be friends with Notes from the Trenches for all I care. Go to the beach all you want in your Crocs. Even hitch rides up to Canada for all I care (the guards at the Winnepeg border scare the hell outta me). I’m sure she’ll take your picture…and you’ll cook her recipes (I lost the link, forgive me.) And we’ll get to watch all of your children growing up (hey, wait a minute, where have I heard that before?); watching from the center of the country here (geographical center has a campsite, wnt there with that Marine friend I told ya ’bout, the one married to Shelley, the white girl from the Res).
Now don’t go making reservations at Sundance for all us girls and our re-unitin’…(by the fireplace, at that round table), I’ve been there in person. Let me get my wedding album on-line first (it’s the first and last I made, full of inspiration…and it’s on PAPER, can you imagine?!)
Anyway, we’ll always have our comments.
That is adorable
Aw, that is too cute.
The “Marry me” quote reminds me of what one of ours came out with the other day…
4 year old : “Can I ring Uncle Neil?”
Me : Why?
4 year old : “Because I LIIIKKKE him.”
There’s no answer to that, is there.
So sweet! We used to say that my dad had so much good luck he could fall into an outhouse and come out smelling like a rose. He was always winning raffles and drawings and small- to mid-sized lottery jackpots.
This is the sweetest story. Loved it!
And I’m sure it’s something you will remember always.
awesome. totally made me smile.
Poo simply couldn’t have been any sweeter. I was wondering at that point in the story, if you were going to say that you went into momentary shock.
From the mouths of babes frequently come astonishing statements that simply stop us in our tracks and keep us smiling mysteriously for weeks on end ( like we be sharing a crazy joke with our inner selves )
Loved this story
Warm Regards Dino Delellis