I had the great privilege of going to Kansas with my dear friend Sheri and her daughters to spend four days with her two sisters and sister-in-law at “Sister Camp”, which was really four days at her sister’s home doing what we wanted when we wanted.  My kids went to Grandma & Grandpa’s for a week and had camp of their own, while Chad had the house to himself.

I keep getting asked, “What did you do in Kansas?”  I then have a moment like JD on Scrubs where I tilt my head back and to the side, and images flood through my memory: line dancing at a country music bar, laughing so hard and so loud in the bathroom of a nice restaurant that I’m glad the place was empty, watching the chickens interact in the morning, confusion over glass sizes, the freedom to get in the pool when I wanted (even a peaceful, all alone nighttime swim), new ladies who embraced me as a sister immediately.

So that’s a hard question for me to answer.  What did I do in Kansas?  I laughed really hard, very easily.  I had no parental responsibilities.  I enjoyed deepening friendships and making new ones that took root right away.  We had an awesome schedule that had built in fun, and built in relax time.  I actually enjoyed helping out in the kitchen because we were all pitching in – we all knew the drill.  There are so many stories that are hard to convey out of context.

The chickens, ducks, and the turkey. They provided endless entertainment and we greatly enjoyed putting voices to their actions.

There was a lot of this.  Just sitting, being together.  We could do this for hours until the next scheduled activity, and it was glorious.  Or we could start doing backflips off the diving board.  Whichever.

And this.  This is the night we went line dancing.  This isn’t a “perfect” picture, but it’s my favorite one in the series.  We’re together and we’re laughing.  That sums it up.

 
Thank you – Sheri, Jamie, Tracey, and Kalie – for taking me in as a sister.  It was a truly great week.