By now if you have been following along, you know my parents flew out to Nashville for their niece’s graduation from Vanderbilt and I drove out as a surprise to my niece and family.  You also know I ran a plan by my folks to extend their vacation and to travel with me a bit.  They agreed and our last stop was Walt Disney World.  Now I must say if you are a son or daughter and you feel like taking your parents on a road trip like they did for you, be prepared, it’s not the same as when you were a child.  New Orleans for example, I was telling them it was getting late and we had to get some rest for tomorrow.  My mind was twisted up with the thought that I was the one who was reigning in my 70 year old mom and dad.  What the heck?  So now we arrive at Walt Disney World which is comprised of 4 parks.  We have park hoppers so we can come and go as we please and the 70 year old kids want to take full advantage of it.  They were go go go!!  It was a beautiful thing to see mom and dad having so much fun without a care in the world, just as I remember Disneyland as a child.  Magic Kingdom was first on the list.  Mom said no roller coasters but dad and I managed to get her on a few and she giggled the whole time she was on the ride.  We spent nearly 12 hours at Magic Kingdom and loved every minute of it.  The next day we decided on EPCOT.  Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, EPCOT.  Again dad and I got mom on a the only fast rides here and then we explored the technology and world communities that make up this park.  Mom and dad wanted to eat in England (fish and chips) and then have dessert in France (beignets), ok, maybe I wanted the beignets.  It was a great day to slow it down and enjoy each others company.  Animal Kingdom, the newest park, was the next day.  What a beautiful place with the Tree of Life at its center.  Again, this park is divided into regions such as Asia, Africa and even Dinoland.  And yes there are rides!  One ride in particular was a clear no go for mom.  It’s called Expedition Everest and momma wasn’t going on it.  She giggled the whole way around on Everest!  We ended our exploration of the Disney parks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Here we walked the backlots, watched shows and played games.  I loved every minute I spent with my 70 year old kids.  We decided to ride the boat back to EPCOT, which is fun and interesting in itself.  When we arrived at EPCOT, we explored more of the countries and then I took mom and dad out for a nice dinner in Italy.  The service and food were terrific.  They were still go go go and I was running out of gas (kids these days!). We stayed for the light show and fireworks and we enjoyed every last drop of our experience together.  Driving my folks to the airport was bittersweet.  They called when they landed in Arizona, I was on my way to Savannah.

If you get anything from this post, I hope the message is to love your parents and everything they have done to make you who you are today.  But don’t just love your parents, take time to get to know your parents.  Don’t just visit mom and dad, go do something with them.  Spend more than dinner time with your folks, spend an unrushed, loosely planned weekend with them.  Go into it with an open mind and a kind heart and you will never forget it.  You owe it to them and to yourself to hear the old stories and make some new stories.  And don’t forget to save those stories for generations to come on your Kinokē.