In the car with Princess and Dude . . . listening to the radio on the way to summer day camp . . .
“I’ve got, two tickets to paradiiiise! Won’t you pack your bags, we’ll leave tonight! I’ve got . . .”
Dude: Hey Mom. Where’s Paradise?
Me: What?
Dude: Where is Paradise? That guy said he has two tickets to Paradise?
Me: Well, paradise is wherever you think is a great place to be. Like my paradise is in a cabin on a lake in Northern MN. Or maybe on a beach . . . but that’s just a short-term paradise . . . my real paradise is that whole MN thing with my family. Where’s your paradise?
Dude: Oh totally in a cabin . . . but mine is in the mountains, where I have to drive a 4-wheeler to get there. And I’ll have a yellow lab dog that rides it with me. And someone brings me groceries once every month, and the rest of the time I’ll just fish and stuff and eat that kind of thing. Oh, and there has to be a stream through my yard, and maybe a small waterfall I can see off my back porch. So ya - that’s my paradise.
Me: I like that paradise! How about you, Princess? What’s your paradise?
Princess: Um. A cabin on a lake in Northern MN, with a stream and a 4-wheeler and a dog and a waterfall.
Me: That sounds a lot like mine and Dude’s put together. Is that really YOUR paradise?
Princess: No. My paradise is just in MN.
Me: All of MN?
Princess: No. Not all of it. Just wherever the grandmas and grandpas are.
Smart girl . . . I would have to agree that paradise is indeed wherever your family is!
Yes!!! My paradise is between Marshall and Mankato. Wouldn’t that be great. We could go to all your games and play lots of games and go places together and your mom and dad could go places together and we could play with you and take you out to eat. What a wonderful paradise.
My dream come true!!!!!
We have lots of lakes in Minnesota!!!!
Would you like to learn to play Canasta?
P.S. I need to talk to the noisy one and prepare our lobbying approach.
She would be great at finding our paradise spot.
It truly brings tears to my eyes! Paradise…for me will be the time I will spend with my family at the lodge on the lake in Wisconsin next week…4-wheeling… fishing… canoeing…pontooning…playing games…eating… laughing until my stomach hurts… hugging and kissing everyone… that will be my paradise!! P.S. - Sue…together we can prepare a lobbying approach that would be second to none!!! However…while we would fulfill Keira’s paradise I’m afraid it wouldn’t meet Jason’s paradise so we would have to come up with a plan that would work for all!! Love…Mom…the noisy grandma.