Call me when you get there

From my childhood, in the back-seat of a car, I always heard him tell my mom "call me when you get there".

Even at a young age, I remember actually thinking "we just live a few miles away, why does he want us to call when we get there?".

Years go by.  I learn to drive a car.  I hear it again.  First long road trip.  Back to college.  Across the ocean.  Across the states.  The phrase is heard again and again.

I've always called.  The same phone number.  My whole life.  The same house.  The same people.  Every time I leave the same house, I've always left, I always call and let the sweetest grandparents in the whole world know I've gotten to the next destination.  I'm safe.  I've "journeyed" to the next location. Suddenly a few years ago, I wondered if he wasn't talking about more.  Day to day life, no he wasn't talking about more.  He wanted to know if I got where I was going.  He's a simple man.  And I'm now a woman - I want something to mean more than it really meant. It doesn't.  He truly wants to know when I get there.


A few years ago on Facebook there was a "note" type of "dare" to list 25 random things about yourself and "post".  Several of my friends did this.  In fact, quite a few did this.  I "started" my list.  "25 random things you need to know about me".  This was pre-blog.

I never finished the list.  I started it, and from the drawer, hand-written;

Here is the start:

• I love to ride my bike.  Still
• Swimming makes me whole.
• The color blue is my favorite.  And not because it matches my eyes.
• I hang on to things too long  (stuff, pieces of paper, people I shouldn't)
• I love good quotes
• Stargazer lilies are my favorite flowers and we plant a new bulb every spring in the yard.  I was told to plant your own flowers in life.
• Friends and family are the backbone of my life.
• I enjoy being a mom much more than I thought I would.
• I am a participant.  Not an observer.
• I don't like peas, but I like split pea soup
• I don't like coffee or milk, but I like lattes.  *****And now, I can even say, I've picked coffee.  
• Music makes me smile.
• Watching random strangers make me smile too
• I can't stand in-efficiency.
• I met one of my best friends at the airport.
• I can hold my breath for a REALLY long time.

That's as far as I got.  A long way from 25.  It was written in 2009 But my last written entry:

• My Papo (grand-father) told me my whole life to "Call me when you get there".  Every day, I wonder if I'm there. Does he know I made it?