road trip part 4: visiting Caroline

Last Wednesday, about 3 1/2 hours into the drive home, while the kids were passed out from all the fun they had lived out in the past two days, Ian and I had a conversation that sounded a lot like this...

Ian looks at me and says, "So have you stopped to consider how many people must live in this state we're driving through?"

Not really sure where he was going with that, but thankful that he'd awakened from a short snooze as I was getting drowsy, I answered, "Umm.  Not so much.  Why?"

He continued his train of thought.  "I mean, Ohio must have over a million residents alone."

"And then think, we've already driven over an hour across Indiana, and still have West Virginia, Virginia, and a few hours in North Carolina until we are home."

Fully aware that we still had over seven hours of driving time alone before we were home, I didn't need to be reminded of how much longer it was until we reached our destination.

So I asked, "While a good reminder of how far it is from the M-pack home to ours, what exactly did the population of Ohio have to do with your statement?"

And he says, "Seriously.  Consider it.  Easily millions of families that we pass between our homes."

"Okay," I answer, still not exactly sure his point.

Then he says, "It just seems funny that with millions of people between us and them that we ended up being such good friends."

And when you think about it, I suppose it does seem rather random.

How do two families who've never lived in the same state end up enjoying spending time together so much?

In our entire five year friendship we've spent less than four weeks of time together in person.

But two of those weeks were in a land far, far away.

I suppose monumental moments bond us together in ways we can't imagine.

And besides, I believe God saw fit that we keep these two girls in touch.

They share a kindred spirit.  In our entire 2 1/2 day visit they were never more than an arm length apart.  Not one harsh word was spoken.

We love you Miss Caroline (and the ENTIRE rest of the M-pack)!  Come see us soon!

**I should make note that most of the photos from this post were not taken by me but rather by my insanely talented photographer friend, Cindy.  (who happens to the mom of Caroline)  If you live in southern Indiana and need pictures taken, I know the photographer for you!**