I'll admit, I was a little nervous. Not nervous for the trip, but rather nervous for he and I. Our lives and conversations generally seem to revolve around the kids and work because we work different schedules; it sometimes seems like a briefing/debriefing of the day. Would we have anything to talk about for five whole days without those things coming into play? It'd been a good long while since we'd had that many days alone without any other factors of life driving our world.
Before dawn on a Friday morning, we left our house and headed south of the boarder. Days seemed to fly, but never seemed rushed. We enjoyed the beach. We went zip-lining, atving, and swimming in cenotes. We went downtown Playa and enjoyed the street life. We ate, we swam, we played cards. We enjoyed each other.
My fear of having little to talk about was a non-factor. Here's what I learned: we are still the same head over heels couple that we were fourteen years ago when we started dated. We still make each other laugh. We still love holding hands and kissing like it's the first time we've ever done such a thing. We laughed, we loved, we reconnected. Fourteen years later, I still get butterflies and smile when I think about it.
We're not perfect. We face struggles and battle through them. But here's what's great, we're here. That for better or for worse thing, it's real. Some times we just need a little getaway to reconnect and remind us of where we started and how much we don't ever want to lose that. How lucky am I that I have a man that sees the same things?
Speaking of reconnecting, the annual Hopwood kids sibling weekend happened. Maui asked me why we have a sibling weekend. I originally told her it was because we like hanging out and that I hope she and her sisters do that when they're older. Then I got to thinking about the real reason we get together. I think it's for similar reasons as the trip Rob and I took. It's because life gets busy and we don't make time for each other in the ways that we want to or should. So for us, sibling weekend gives us a chance to catch up, to laugh, to reminisce, and make new memories.
This year we didn't go far. We hit the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert in Des Moines. And while the concert was great, it wasn't my favorite part of the weekend. No, my favorite parts happened before and after. The memories of sitting around the fire pit laughing way past my bedtime. That of five adults squeezing into one very tiny money booth and thinking we'd hit the jackpot (we collected $45 between the five of us). The awful service at the restaurant after the concert that made me realize how seriously we all take our food. That to me was what the weekend was all about.
In this life, we can't be certain of much. Yet this I'm certain of: reconnecting with those we love is never time wasted, it's time gained.
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