Grateful

Today, I had one of those moments I will always remember.

My husband and I were standing in our travel trailer that we just purchased a few weeks ago, getting it ready for our first trip tomorrow

I looked at him and had a moment.

The kind when everything seems perfectly where it is supposed to be.

You see, my husband grew up camping with his family.  I love the outdoors and we had tent camped quite a few times.  It started to get more complicated to find the time, get everything all together, etc. 

We had talked early in our marriage about getting a trailer.  It was our "one day" conversation.

I was concerned about the practicality-- the storage of it, how often we would use it, the expense of maintenance-- would it be worth it?

My husband really wanted one.

We looked,knew the style we wanted.  We said one more year...

Then the recession hit.

Then it wasn't exactly an option.

But the prices came down.

And my husband really wanted one.

A lot.

I wanted to spend more time with my family.

So we agreed that if we used it at least 6 times a year-- including his hunting trips-- it would be worth it.  Plus, we would get a used one.

Then the recession ended.

Then we started looking again.

Along with everyone else.

We planned on buying one early in the year and taking it on a trip for spring break.  But we couldn't find one.  So we decided to wait.

Again.  For that "one day."

Then I stumbled onto one online.  We saw it.  The price was good. It was everything we wanted.

We decided not to wait.

To the salesperson, it look like an impulsive buy- a 30 minute decision.

It really was an 11 year decision.  Careful negotiations between a husband and wife.  And at the end, this wife simply wanted her husband to be happy.  Because he deserved it.  Because spending more time together, 11 years into it, seemed even more important.  Because we can see how our family time is going to be even more limited in the future.  Because we were tired of waiting for one day.

And today, standing there, putting things in their place before we pull out tomorrow, it felt like one day had finally come.

My job is to help people plan for their goals and dreams.  It's great and extremely fulfilling.  I love hearing about the trip of a lifetime, or the child getting into their first choice school, or buying the cabin-- it makes me feel good to have been a part of it.

But today, I saw one of my family's dreams come true. 

To some people it's just a camper.  Probably not a big deal. 

But to me, it's more.  We were thoughtful.  We planned.  We got the one we really wanted.

It was worth it.

And to see my husband, having such a good time, was more than worth it.

It's not the actual item.  Truly.  It was the journey that we took to get there.  It was something that we both wanted-- the idea of spending time in the outdoors with our family-- not the actual trailer.  We are excited.

We are hopeful our first trip goes with no major disasters-- we don't have the best time with vacations-- so this is simply a camping trip-- not the v-word.

But today, for that moment, no matter what happens on our trip, I had that perfect moment. 

And I am grateful.