After 27 years are we there yet?

It wasn’t that far of a drive, only from San Clemente to Garden Grove.  Back in those days probably not more than a 1/2 hour or 45 minutes.  It was the road between our house and Grandma and Grandpa’s.  But back than it seemed to take forever.  In unison my brother and I would yell from the back seat, “Are we there yet?”  I am sure to my mom and dad it seemed like we would keep saying it repeatedly from the moment we got into the car until we finally hit the driveway of Gram and Gramps.  As time has marched on, trips to Colorado, drives to Seattle, flights to Japan, all found my kids asking, chanting, yelling, crying, the same phrase, over and over and over again.  “Are we there yet?”

Last night Darla and I went out to celebrate our 27th anniversary.  Twenty Seven years of living with, changing with, growing with, learning with, , loving with,  fighting with, working with, each other.  As we talked about the past, and we talked about today, and we talked about the things we wished for and wanted to work towards, I found myself saying, “Are we there yet?”  After 27 years, you would think that we should have arrived.  Darla gave me a card last night that in a funny way poked fun at how much work our marriage has taken (and I am sure every marriage as well).  You would think with all the work we have put in we would have perfected the art of marriage by now.  But it appears we may have at least 27 more years of work ahead of us.

I have to say that on this trip called Darla and Rick, there have been many amazing stops along the way.  There have been a few detours and flat tires.  We have changed the route more than once, but not the destination.  It has definitely been an adventure.  As we talked over dinner I asked if Darla wanted to sign up for 27 more years, neither of us were sure we could commit that long, but we did both sign up for another year with an option for more after that, if we still like each other.

Guess I’ll keep yelling from the back seat as we go along, “Are we there yet?”  Here is to hoping we all arrive someday. Love you Darla