Tybee Island Review


  

This year I’ve been invited to go with Pamela and her family to the World’s Largest Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Show in Portland, Indiana.

Last June, Pamela had invited me along to Tybee Island, Georgia, with her husband John and their adult son Calvin. We’d only met a few times before, always with my husband by my side.

That Tybee trip was my first time traveling with them after losing my husband in February 2022.

I remember sitting in the backseat of their pickup with Pam, crossing state borders at ninety miles an hour, when she leaned over and said slowly:

“You know we are basically strangers.”

I hoped it was just a friendly reminder, not a threat. Should I ask her to drop me at the nearest bus station? Instead, I smiled and nodded.

By day two of Tybee, Pamela had food poisoning. The bathroom became her best friend. She pointed toward the door and said, If you want food or fun, it won’t be here. Go with John and Calvin.

So off I went, awkward and hungry.

I found myself standing in the warm Atlantic waves, phone pressed to my ear, crying to my daughter: “Pamela’s in the motel spending more time with the toilet than with me. I’m stuck with her husband and son. I don’t even know them.”

My daughter, full of sympathy, said: “MOM—chill out. Go get a margarita and ENJOY the beach.”

So I did.

(A few blogs from that trip are tucked away in the 2022 archives.)

Fast forward to August 2023.

Pamela called:

“You’re invited to join our entire family—two of the five sons, one daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, my brother and his wife, their two daughters, one son-in-law, and four grandchildren. We’ll be primitive camping with only a generator for electricity. Four days. At the Tri-State Gas Engine Tractor Show.”

Last year at Tybee didn’t kill me.

So I jumped in my little car and drove up to join them.

I had no idea Pamela might actually try to kill me this year…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Really Just TWO?

Image
Camping is the life—especially when I’m the guest and others are responsible for all the work. We woke up to the sound of high winds rocking the camper, then… a huge crash! The awning. Yes, the awning. We had left it up, because why be sensible when the night is warm and balmy? It had been so hot that we hated following the “no generators after eleven pm” rule. We suffered in… not silence exactly, more like an Olympic-level flopping competition, twisting and turning to find some relief, drenched in sweat, like human puddles. Finally, a bit of relief as the wind quickly cooled everything down. And then—the huge crash! Oh no! The awning pole was bent just a little. Not catastrophic… yet. Clint, Pam's #4 sone swooped in like a tiny superhero and helped us get it down. By now, we were all soaked from the sudden rain, so really, what was the point of trying to stay dry? Survival mode: activated. Sweet Clint always the thoughtful one, brought us milk and cereal for breakfast. Tiny pr...
Read more

Fake Home Invasion

My daughter tells her husband and my grandsons, ‘Mema will be here tomorrow, so clean the house.’ Of course, the boys don’t do a thing. They’re gaming, chilling, living their best lives… until they realize' Mom  will be home in ten minutes.’ Suddenly, DEFCON 1 panic. What’s their solution? Do they grab a vacuum? No. Do they pick up the laundry? No. These geniuses go ' Let’s stage a home invasion. Maybe she’ll be so grateful she won’t care.’ They blacken Zak’s eye with shoe polish, tie him to a chair with a pillowcase over his head, scatter broken glass from the trash all over the floor—like a crime scene from CSI: Lazy Teenagers. And of course, Dad’s filming it. Because why clean when you can go viral? Brandy walks in, takes one look around, and goes, ‘What the hell?’ —and trust me, she does NOT normally cuss. She sets her bag down, pulls the pillowcase off Zak’s head… just shakes her head like, ‘This is my circus. These are my monkeys.’ Later, I’m watching the video and ...
Read more

Unrestrained Travis

Image
                                                       Unrestrained Travis    My brother Travis came to visit,  the same week, my mother-in-law passed away.    Perfect time for my kids to get to see Uncle Travis.    The morning of the funeral, we went to breakfast, Travis, my son, Montana,  daughter, son- in- law, grandsons and sister.    We googled a good place to eat near me. The Apple Barrel came up. 4.7 stars. That was the highest rated place with good friendly staff.   We are all dressed like we’re going to a funeral or maybe we’re a new band in town who knows?    “Travis, just behave for today.”   “I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.”    Our family tries to be serious at a funeral.. We fail a lot.    My brother-in-law passed away a month ago. At th...
Read more