Most Memorable Car Ride of 2009

Car ride. What did you see? How did it smell? Did you eat anything as you drove there? Who were you with?

This may seem like a wierd question as a reflection on 2009.  However, I have spent a lot of 2009 in a car.  I drive 30 minutes each way to work every day.  Tim & I drove 1000s of miles in Australia and have driven up to Nor Cal.  While many of my drives include great conversations and fun times, there is really only one drive that sticks out in my head as most memorable.

Unfortunately the most memorable drive I took this year was on the day my Aunt Amy passed away.  There were a lot of things going through my head as I was driving up to Los Angeles to be with my family.  I didn't listen to the radio much but was thinking of how fast life flies by and how each every day is special.  I was thinking of how life is so precious and how we always need to tell those we love how much they mean to us.  And I was thinking of how much my family and I would miss my Aunt Amy and how she was taken from us too soon.  I cried a lot and ironically the weather reflected my somber mood.  The ride started off rainy and slowly turned to some really dark clouds with sun peaking through. Those sun beams gave me hope and reminded me that my aunt was in a place where she would no longer feel pain and I took it as her sign that she was okay.  The sky was so beautiful that I tried to take a picture while driving (I know...I know...no picture taking while driving). 

My Aunt Amy was a really special woman and to have a drive like that, where I felt she was at peace, helped me be at peace too.  My family was lucky to have Aunt Amy as part of our lives and she will always be with us.  Aunt Amy, thanks for riding with me on a drive I will always remember.