A tribute from me to the road is long overdue.
When I was little, the road would take my grandmother, aunt,
sister, cousin, and I to see my great grandmother. While there, we would do
crafts with her, run away from her dog, promise our adults that we wouldn’t pee
in our sleeping bags (this was mostly me, the others seemed to have far better
commands of their bladders). We would play with second cousins or run around
with my great-grandmother’s neighbor kids, we visit other great-relatives too,
catching stray kittens on their farms or pretending we were all more country
than we actually were.
The road took my family on vacations to see my aunt and
uncle in the Twin Cities or to Western SD to see Mount Rushmore. Once, it even
took my dad, Grandma Verna, sister, and I to Montana (where my sister promised to
pop the clouds at the top of the mountain and drown me in its precipitation.
When I was a little bit older, the road took me to soccer
practice (an hour drive both way). And then, to soccer tournaments (in the
surrounding states and once, to Canada).
Just after my 18th birthday, the road took me to
college and a semester after that, to another college, a year after that, yet
another college. Then, it took me to Georgia in pursuit of love and inevitably,
it took me home, to my open armed aunt and uncle, their three children, and my
college degree.
After college, it took me on an epic road trip, where I
crossed 12 states in ten days and spit me out in South Texas, where I was privy
to the unique and insightful experiences of border life.
The road has taken me on pit stops to friends’ house as I’ve
trekked from one home to another. It’s taken me away from trouble, when a
friend and I were creepily being followed in a dangerous sister city of
Chicago. It took me to see old friends, it took me to meet new friends. It reunited
me with family, and then, it gained my family’s trust when the road predictably
separated us again. The road has ruined my windshield, but strengthened my enduring soul. It has been kind to me, it has taught me to be aware, it has kept me
up when I should be sleeping, it has provided rest stops when it knows I
can.not.continue.
Last night, I turned my folky bluegrass music up and I took
to the road, most certainly, my most dependable friend.
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