My mom is a pretty regular traveler in retirement; between her Road Trek and her little yellow Honda Fit, she spends a fair amount of time on the road. She’d planned a trip to visit a friend in New York in mid December, and thought some company would be nice.
Tim, being the amazing person that he is, and without prompting, suggested I go. He’d take care of the kids and the dogs and the house for the week so I could hang out with Mom in the city.
In related news, I’ve nominated him for Husband of the Year.
So we were off! First stop: Boston, to visit my brother and his fiancée for a night. Fanueil Hall’s tree and light show were pretty, but we reserved judgment until we’d seen Rockefeller Center so we could compare.
Our visit to NYC was wandering in Grand Central Station, an evening in Times Square, dinner and cheesecake at Junior’s, the lights at Rockefeller, and a quick walk through St. Patrick’s. I hadn’t been to the city since I was a kid, so I found it amusing that everything was smaller than I remembered.
Best of all was spending time with Mom. It’s been a rough year for everyone, and being as busy as I am with work and the kids and Tim, it’s too easy to take her proximity for granted. I’m lucky to have a parent who is also a friend, and I hope I’ll have a similar relationship with my kids when they’re older.
We’ll get to repeat this trip when we go down to see Streetcar in May!