Are We There Yet?

It’s the standard kid-in-the-car-on-a-cartrip question, but if you pay attention, adults ask it too–it just might be with different words. It’s the old journey-not-the-destination philosophy, but it’s even simpler:

No we’re not there yet. We’re here.

It also falls under the category of easier said than done. It’s Friday afternoon, it’s slow going on the mountain roads and we just want to arrive. Been in the car several hours, tired, long week, ready for weekend. But we’re here. It’s another hour. If this were our last weekend alive, would we enjoy this last hour more? Of course, but you can’t think like that all the time. But maybe a little? Let’s listen to a story. Let’s make the most of this last hour in the car.

I was reminded of the importance of the journey as my son asked me if we were going to do a big train trip again this summer. The fact that he remembered it and wanted to do it again warmed my heart. He even mentioned how we never even sat in our seats, but sat in the viewing car the whole time. He remembered the pancakes and the sand dunes and the cow carcass. All just looking out the window for ten hours one day in November. No, we weren’t there yet. We weren’t even close. We were right where we wanted to be. We were here.