Recently, my sister Nancy and I were exchanging memories… You know that type of conversation, where often one remembers it one way, and the other may have a completely different memory? Well, this was a time when we both remembered the same thing. It was a trip our family took to St Louis, from South Dakota for Christmas one year back in the Sixties.  I was five and Nancy was eleven.  We were packed into the family station wagon, six children, (the last three  siblings were not yet born),  our mom, dad and our Grandpa Gill.  Packed in we were, along with Christmas gifts, suitcases and eggs.  Yes eggs.  Our grandpa brought along farm fresh eggs from South Dakota, for our aunt and uncle. How we kids did not end up breaking those eggs in that packed car was probably a Christmas miracle unto itself!

We had a wonderful time with our cousins that Christmas, and I know our mom had a great time with her sister, our Aunt Toots. Dad, Uncle Pat and Grandpa all had a good time as well.  Lots of playing, lots of gifts, lots of laughs.  We have great photos to look back on, remembering this holiday time, but what Nancy and I both have zeroed in on with our memories, was the trip home. We drove late into the night and nothing eventful happened, but we both have this imprinted image in our heads of being so safely tucked in, drowsy and sleeping on and off.  We both recall looking out into the dark of the night,  seeing the precipitation rolling down the outside of the windows, all the while feeling so safe and secure as Dad drove us home. Maybe it was the warmth of the car, or the joy of having had a good time with our cousins or just the relaxed feeling of being tired and tucked in, that has us remembering feeling so good.  I think it was all of that plus the feeling of just being with family. Our family. Our mom, dad, brothers, sisters and grandpa, all crammed into that car. Nine of us.  (Yes,  you might be wondering about seat belts,  but really, I don’t think they even existed back then.)

I believe the warmth of this memory is quite simple. We felt loved and taken care of and protected, and accepted as members of  a family. I hope anyone reading this has good memories like this, either with their  family or with a special group of friends. Belonging, being part of a pack,  being taken care of, and helping take care of the others…that’s what a family or special group of friends should be about, right? That safe place… That cozy, warm spot in the car, as you drowse on and off, with someone in control of things.  It feels good to know we had that growing up…and I hope my own kids can think back on some times they felt that kind of secure love. I’ll have to ask them….. And you? Maybe tonight, as you fall asleep, try to think of your “safe spot” memory. It might be a nice thing to drift off to sleep thinking about.

PS   I  just now asked son Jeff if he knew what I meant about feeling safe and secure as a kid.  I am happy to say, he had several instances to share with me. I’ll keep them to myself, since this is my blog, not his, but it is nice to know Mike and I have fostered that safe place too, now and  then. Feels comforting…kind of like precipitation rolling down the outside of the car windows on a long drive home.