I am a travelaholic. I love to travel. If I have not ventured somewhere in the last two months or so, I start to get antsy. It doesn’t take a miracle salve to cure this itch; a fifty-mile journey can do the trick. Still, if I try to ignore it others will notice. I get kind of ornery.
My latest journey was to a town I regularly visit in north Alabama, my hometown. For me, visiting my hometown can prove to be quite taxing many times, but this time was much different. This time I stayed with my brother and his family, which happens to be the same size as my family, five. The logical conclusion to having ten people under the same roof for an entire weekend would seem to be chaos. However, for all of us it was quite the opposite. It was food, fellowship, and just plain fun.
I blame our hosts for all of this goodwill. They have a laid back quality that is hard to find in humanity these days. Imagine if I called you and gave you a days notice that my family of five was about to invade your life for three days and two nights. Would you say, with a genuine smile on your face, “Great! Come on!” My hunch is you would be more like me. I would hedge, make excuses about being busy, or just plain say, “No way.” That is not the case with my brother and his family. They welcomed our invasion with open arms. Now, I am sure there was a lot of preparation put into our visit, but I never once heard a grumble or an single exasperated sigh. Maybe they are all masters of disguise.
Their example means a lot. Maybe the next time I have surprise guests I’ll remember their reaction and overcome my usual gripes and grimaces. Maybe.
From my desktop to yours, it’s another Alabama memory.
