Day Two -- A LONG drive through Ohio and an attack of nostalgia . . .

Thursday began earlier than I wanted -- I'd really like to know how kids manage to keep their mother up late and then pop up, happy and ready to go, at the crack of dawn -- once we went to sleep we all slept well, no hauntings to report (2nd time I've stayed in a "haunted" hotel with no hauntings to report -- bummer -- guess that's what happens when you don't actually believe in ghosts).

We had another 6+ hour drive and after today I am really glad that my two longest days were my first two days . . . amazing how much longer 6 hours feels the second time (and, since I am actually writing this post on day 6, I can report that even our recent 4 hour days feel longer than the original 6 . . . of course day one was also driving through the beautiful 'mountains' and valleys of West Virginia, whereas our other drives have been through Ohio and Missouri -- which have their own kind of beauty, but . . . ).  I was exhausted after my long nights on Tuesday and Wednesday so, once Pip and Merry fell asleep, I pulled over in the parking lot of an empty gas station and took a little nap myself -- what a difference an hour of sleep makes!

The kids were amazing! Again.  No fights, minimal whining, lots of quiet playing, lots of singing, lots of questions.

Our destination tonight was the home of dear friends in Bloomington, Indiana.  Jason was the chair of my thesis committee at the University of Oklahoma and later, after I had moved on to the PhD program at IU, joined the faculty there.  (I got my favorite professor in two different programs at two different universities, how great is that!)  And while I lived in Bloomington I got the chance to know his amazing wife (and to babysit their beautiful daughter).  The time I spent myself in Bloomington was one of those powerful, definitive moments of my life.  I can't fully explain what those two years meant to me.  I have never felt more capable, more attractive, more liked than I did then.  I had the BEST roommate (my little sister) and met the best man, who later became my amazing husband!  At the same time, after a two-year reprieve, my last year in Bloomington was when my depression really took hold again . . . With these powerful memories in mind, I found the last hour of our drive on Thursday a very emotional experience. Over and over I found my throat constricting and my eyes clouding over . . .

I was so excited to be back, but what I really wanted was to be back THEN -- only I didn't, because I wanted to be here and now.