Marriage and the open road

Richy and I have a lot of road trips in our history. In the early days we traveled with Praise Band, which became Found, which became Radiant Worship. We have traversed most of the States via van, with a trailer full of musical gear. These days we travel by minivan with a wide selection of baby equipment and large amounts of popcorn and trail mix in baggies.

Some things stay the same. I see a road trip as a perfect opportunity to improve our marriage. He sees a trip as a task to be blazed through, as quickly and loudly as possible. I'm lucky he has a miniature bladder, or we might never stop at all. 

Conflict is maximized in the confines of a vehicle for 12+ hours. I like to discuss our relationship after I miss exits or hit traffic cones, because those are emotionally heightened times. Our hearts are on our sleeves, so to speak, when the MOG is awakened from a nap as I cross 4 lanes, pseudo-cursing. This kind of opportunity to talk about our feelings can't be ignored, and no topic is off limits. 

These intense fellowships are typically followed by times of personal reflection, where we put earbuds in and stare darkly out into the night. 

Usually, the brief period of contemplation is broken by a need to eat, which restores high spirits all around. With my confidence in the strength of our union complete, we can then celebrate by plugging in the MOGs iPod and rocking to obscure British bands with the occasional pan-pipe soliloquy from a Target cd thrown in and preschoolers yelling things like "Mom! MOMMOMOM!!!!!! ......uh, does pretend cats likes dog food?" 

This is the life.