Girls' Trip

 Grief is such a curious beast.  Reminders of what has been lost show up in the strangest places - a song on the radio which is weird because Dad is the only person I have ever known who did not like any music whatsoever.  He never wanted the radio played in the car.  On a tour a mention was made of George Jones' He Stopped Loving Her Today, and I think I remember Dad actually liking that one.  Someone mentioned Rod Stewart at Jazzercise, and I remember how impressed Dad was by that rocker's soccer skills.  A friend from far away commented that Julia is getting so tall after seeing a picture of my family.  It made me realize that Dad had not yet seen how much she had passed up Savannah, and that's something he would have been all over during the holidays when seeing them together.  Grief is a curious beast because it comes from nowhere and hits you - in a quiet moment or when watching a TV show where you see a Dad sacrifice for his kids.  As my hairdresser told me today, it never gets better, but it does get easier. I know this because I am acquainted with grief.  As Andy said, he and I did not grow up in families that faced so much loss in a six year span.  Our children handle grief with maturity I did not have at their ages.

 Trying to make the most of the break and take a break from grief, I took the girls on a road trip.  Here are some pics from our day together.

We started with a trolley tour.  I found lots of things I want to return and see through the tour, but in the future, I would prefer to start the day early (we started just after noon) on the trolley and take time to enjoy many more stops.  We were under the threat of storms and used the trolley to get to the must see stops on our itinerary.  I am grateful for Groupon and an online deal to cover the cost of the trolley.  I could never have paid full price for that, and I am not sure I would want to on our limited timeframe. 

Mission accomplished - city skyline for a future work of art from Savannah.  Of course, I took these pictures, and she won't use a picture that she did not take herself, so I don't know what perspective the final product will have.

Julia has a gift for taking selfies.  Julia went reluctantly through the trolley tour but stated that the skyline adventure was her favorite part of the day.

We capped off the day by wandering through a beautifully decorated hotel.

Actually, I lied.  To humor Julia we capped off the day with two hours in a loud and crowded arcade.  It was stressful, and we left for home far later than anticipated making for an early morning arrival back home.  It was half-price game day so 60 tokens went much further than anticipated or desired (on Savannah's and my behalf anyway).