Trains, planes, and automobiles: I love to go places. Everything that surrounds traveling intrigues me. I enjoy the rituals of plane rides; I always vie for a window seat, try never to use the bathroom, order ginger ale with extra ice, and I always eat the pretzels in the snack handouts last. I love car rides especially on crisp sunny days. There is something marvelous about rolling the window down and turning up the heat. Plus I have a fondness for how conversational car rides can be. I also love how silence can speak so loud when driving through the woods, down a dirt road, or through a crowded city.
This weekend I traveled by train. Seven hours to Portland, seven hours back home to Klamath. It was a quick trip, I was in Portland for about 23 hours: definitely worth it.
It is a spectacular ride through Oregon forests and by beautiful rivers. A little girl, I’d say about seven years of age, came skipping down the train aisle. She stopped when she saw me and asked my name. “Merri” I replied and asked hers back, “Alice, like Alice in Wonderland Alice.” She gave a big grin, which lacked front teeth, and skipped back down the train singing about a two-legged horse. About five minutes later I heard the patter of small feet, Alice popped up next to me and with a very serious face inquired, “Merri, do you have a lamb?” I smiled and responded “No” She seemed disenchanted and a tad
confused that a girl name Merri did not own a lamb. Upon her look of grave disappointment I interjected with “but I do have a small garden”. That seemed to satisfy her enough and she began singing again and continued on.
I truly enjoy the train.
Now that I am married I am realizing that deep friendships are, in many ways, like marriage. And vice versa. This might seem like a “no duh” realization but I think it has especially impacted me because I have several incredible friends that have really helped prepare me for marriage. Conversely I see how being married to Sean has helped me be a better friend.
Relationships take communication, honesty, trust, sacrifice, perseverance, and joviality (among other things yes, but to me these are absolutely foundational). I have the great honor of keeping close company with some very remarkable friends. I am amazed how out of my twenty-one years, I have friendships going on twenty years strong. One in particular is the reason for my train expedition this weekend. I have found there are some people in life that it just pains you to stay away from them too long. Being apart you actually feel them missing from your weekly routine of meeting at a coffee shop or eating whirly pop popcorn (for those of you who have never had whirly pop, do yourself, your family and your friends a favor by investing in one. It will make the most delightful popcorn you could ever wish for). This friend is really more a sister than anything, one I can cry with, laugh with, fart in front of, be silent with, vent to, and share life’s joys. We’ve gone through life’s greatest trials and joys together, indeed our friendship has seen some rocky times. But all in all we are each a deep-rooted part of the other’s life.
There are several friends I have that I feel such a soul connection with. They are all from different chapters that continue to be an integral part of life’s story. Some are related by blood, other I’ve know for twenty years, ten years, and still others it has been barely a year and I consider them family. Each one I have learned so much from. I have learned how to be a better wife, friend, worker, daughter, and sister.
So in the fourteen hours of training through the stately Cascade mountain range, I have been recharged at the thought of cherished friends. I have been able to soak up the beauty of waterfalls, mountaintops, and forests. Indeed traveling from here to there is not only about the adventure, but also about the reflective moments that come forth in my mind as I exit the normal routine of life.
