Momma Cupcake

I grew up in a very small town....'How small was it?' It was soo small that about 4 years ago, my husband and I were driving there for Christmas and we ran a stop light. The reason we ran the stoplight is that it had never been there before. I am in my thirties and the town that I grew up in had just installed their first (and only) stoplight. My family was not poor, but we were not rich either. We were true middle class and my parents worked extremely hard to maintain that station. I can remember falling asleep in my grandfather's lap on a tractor while my mom, dad, aunts and uncles farmed tobacco. As soon as my sister, my cousins and I grew to a respectable height, we helped as well. My family worked hard, but we worked together. We celebrated our hard work with fishing trips, cookouts and campfires. My parents always took my sister and I on a yearly vacation. It was nothing extravagant like skiing in the Rockies or traveling to Europe, but it meant the world to us and we always looked forward to it. The vacation was usually to the Smokey Mountains, but we did make it to Florida once to see the beach and Mickey Mouse. I remember laying in the back window of our old station wagon half way to Florida; this was before the great seat belt craze, which I greatly appreciate. Momma Cupcake did grow up poor and Daddy Cupcake was a little better off because my grandfather worked for the postal service. So Momma Cupcake has always dreamed of going out west, specifically Colorado and Montana. She has been saying this for so many years and she always knew she would get there. Husband and I have been out west and we kept telling Momma and Daddy Cupcake that they would adore it and quite possibly would not return. So, Momma Cupcake finally got her wish; my parents left for the great wide west this week. She called me on Tuesday night, sounding like a teenage girl going to her first prom. This was the conversation:

Momma Cupcake: "Oh Tricia, we made it. We are finally here!"

Me: "That is so wonderful mom! How was the drive?"

Momma Cupcake: still sounding like a teenage girl, "It was absolutely beautiful. We drove through Kansas and Tricia, it was just like the Wizard of Oz. That's exactly what I thought of as we drove through, Dorothy and Toto'.

Me: trying not to giggle because she sounds so child-like and adorable. I am also thinking that Daddy Cupcake must have been cringing since I forced him to watch the Wizard of Oz every year since I was 4, "That sounds wonderful mom. I have never been to Kansas but you are making me want to visit'.

Momma Cupcake: 'Oh Tricia you should! You know how I have always wanted to travel out west and I kept telling your father that if it ever happened I would probably cry when we arrived. Well, we crossed over the border to Colorado and I just started weeping. I absolutely could not control it. I cried all the way to Colorado Springs. It is all so perfect.'

Daddy Cupcake: spying on the conversation, also sounding like a boy with a new toy truck, 'She won't stop crying Bug'.

Me: trying not to weep myself, because I have never heard anyone so thankful and full of joy in my life, 'I am so glad you are there mom; I knew you would love it. Dad, just hand her some tissues.'

Momma Cupcake: 'Me too honey; I feel very blessed. It was worth the wait.'

So cheers to you Momma Cupcake; I know why you were weeping and it makes my heart sing. I will remember that conversation for the rest of my life because I know that their trip meant something entirely different to Momma Cupcake than just seeing mountains and prairies. To her it meant that she had beaten the odds and had been blessed with a beautiful view on the other side.

Peace & Love,
T