By the time the leaves began to turn, the girls had stopped asking whether I would lose my new job.<\/p>\n
They asked about ordinary things instead.<\/p>\n
Sophie wanted help with a school project.<\/p>\n
Lucy wanted me to fix the loose wheel on her bicycle.<\/p>\n
Sarah wanted to know whether we could finally plan the trip we had postponed.<\/p>\n
I checked our budget.<\/p>\n
Then I checked it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can do it,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Sarah smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot about every detail.\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
We did not book an expensive hotel.<\/p>\n
We planned carefully and kept the trip simple.<\/p>\n
The girls helped choose what to bring.<\/p>\n
Sophie packed a notebook.<\/p>\n
Lucy packed the plastic astronaut.<\/p>\n
I packed the photograph that had sat beside my old computer.<\/p>\n
It had a small crease across one corner.<\/p>\n
I had never noticed it before.<\/p>\n
On the day we left, Sarah stood at the front door while I loaded the bags.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember when you thought everything was over?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came home carrying that box.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at the photograph in my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n
I placed it in the glove compartment.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I\u2019m going to take my family on a trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drive was long.<\/p>\n
The girls argued about music.<\/p>\n
Sarah passed me snacks.<\/p>\n
We stopped for gas and stretched our legs.<\/p>\n
At one rest stop, I watched a man help his mother out of a car.<\/p>\n
He moved slowly and held her arm.<\/p>\n
She thanked him.<\/p>\n
He told her she didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n
I thought of Eleanor beside the road.<\/p>\n
I thought of the ambulance lights reflecting on the wet pavement.<\/p>\n
I thought of the moment I had looked at my watch and understood I was going to be late.<\/p>\n
I had been afraid.<\/p>\n
I had known what Gavin would say.<\/p>\n
I had known what it might cost me.<\/p>\n
I stopped anyway.<\/p>\n
The trip was not perfect.<\/p>\n
The hotel room was smaller than it looked online.<\/p>\n
Lucy lost a glove.<\/p>\n
Sophie complained about the walking.<\/p>\n
We got caught in the rain.<\/p>\n
But we were together.<\/p>\n
At the museum, Sophie stood in front of a display and read every line.<\/p>\n
Lucy wanted to know how the building had been made.<\/p>\n
Sarah took pictures of the three of us.<\/p>\n
I kept one in my wallet.<\/p>\n
It was not a photograph of a grand achievement.<\/p>\n
It was just us, tired and smiling.<\/p>\n
When we returned home, the bills were still there.<\/p>\n
Work was still work.<\/p>\n
The world had not become simple.<\/p>\n
But the house felt lighter.<\/p>\n
I placed the photograph beside the little astronaut on the kitchen counter.<\/p>\n
Lucy noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he going on another trip?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
She picked him up and held him carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can come with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ll make room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: kaylestore.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n By the time the leaves began to turn, the girls had stopped asking whether I would lose my new job. They asked about ordinary things instead. Sophie wanted help with … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10778,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10765\/revisions\/10778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nClick here to continue reading: PART 12: The Road I Would Take Again<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"