The long Highway

Yesterday my husband and I spent the whole day out on my parents farm, so I could help my mother move around. I have 3 teenaged brothers still living at home as well so getting the houses cleaned up and cared for makes the whole place feel more cozy for the cold winter season ahead. My husband is a great cook with many creative ideas for meals, he setup a crock pot and grilled ribs. We even watched movies over hot tea, my mother seemed to relax and rest nicely while we were there. She even walked through the kitchen to see the what was cooking. She said happily "I love that someone knows what they are doing, it smells so GOOD! I just can't wait for dinner time!" Mom really looked happy at the meals coming together. For I setup food cooking in both kitchens from the main house to the cottage across the yard, so where ever you went the aroma of food greeted you at the door!
I think good cozy foods on cold winter days really help comfort with any sadness or depression that can easily fill our minds....Mom walks with her cane as long as someone can support her left side. She had her friend Terri come visit and I served more hot tea. I like when Mom has company, she is full of stories to share with friends and I can tell it cheers her up. When I drove my brothers to their basketball practice later on that afternoon I drove down a familiar long highway, suddenly struck by a memory of almost 30 years ago.........


The sun light was pouring into the car, the red interior was both soft and hot. I woke up from my pile of blankets to see my mother driving up a long stretch of highway. "Debby look over there, way up the hill there's Grandpa's house! We are almost there!" She exclaimed as she pointed with hand out the window. I looked but wasn't sure what I was looking for....I remember my bare feet touched a leather section of the seat and I jumped back standing all the way up. (For these were the days before the seat belt laws) I moved around freely. I remember watching my mother intensely with her curly dark hair and long slim fingers as she pointed towards her parents farms, her childhood home. I could tell she was really excited, really happy so I began to pay attention. We had been in the car for 8 hours now, I didn't understand where we were going but I watched as that long stretch of highway looked endless in the warm sun shine. My mother kept smiling as she was driving, I asked "Where are we going?" I was still very confused just waking up in the moving car. Mom in her thin plaid shirt and jeans began moving around in the car like she couldn't wait to jump out of it replied back "We are going HOME!" I liked how she smiled, how she shined in the sun light.....
I drove that same stretch of road yesterday with this memory lingering, thinking to myself how life never stays the same yet the warmth of the sun light fills the moving car on that long highway.