It was ironic in a way that both my first vacation with Carolyn and my last one with her both entailed trips to Florida that began in Howey-in-the-Hills for a Gelm family reunion of sorts. Although the similarities in locales end there (after each of the reunions we would head off in completely different directions), they both share the distinction of being very nice getaways for our family. Not perfect, but very nice. In fact, I am thankful that this - our last vacation together - yields fun and happy memories.
The trip didn’t start that way either. All Summer long Carolyn and I had been desperately struggling with Ashleigh’s coming of age. For parents whose kids haven’t yet reached fifteen, let me me the first to warn you: they become different people around that fateful age. It was almost unthinkable that my sweet little girl was now thinking about boys, hanging out with them, sneaking around with them, and worse yet, doing it all behind my back. I freaked out when Ashleigh opened a Xanga account and she and her friends began posting pictures and details of their exploits.
Worse yet, Carolyn and I differed in the way we thought the situation(s) should be handled. Although we each had Ashleigh’s best interest in mind, we couldn’t seem to agree on how to proceed, what to prevent, what to let happen…and how often. We also couldn’t agree on how much trust to give Ashleigh - and Ashleigh couldn’t decide on how much we deserved. I felt as if I was in a complete Catch 22 situation. Coming down hard on Ashleigh made her hate me, want to run away from home, lay around depressed, and generally withdraw. Doing nothing (or next-to-it) made Carolyn angry and withdraw from me. The truth is - I had no idea to how to handle it… but someone was always upset with me along the way no matter what I did.
At one point we tried letting Ashleigh spend a week in Columbus with Briana to think things over and get her friends - who we determined were all horrible influences - away from her. We tried to constantly keep her occupied. We played dominoes at Carolyn’s grandparents’ house. We went to the Strawberry Festival together. We tried everything, but things continued to fall apart. I deferred to Christi for advice and she offered some sound assistance - but ultimately, we would be plagued with issues for almost a full year.
Now that everyone is totally depressed from reading this…the Florida vacation comes along. This was really a breath of fresh air and a much-needed getaway for all of us. Again, I say it was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I think we all made the most of it.
Ashleigh, Carolyn, and I left in the Dante-mobile on Saturday, July 16. We stopped overnight (most likely in Forsyth, continental breakfast capital of the world) and then reached our destination during the early afternoon hours of Sunday the 17th. This was just outside Howey-in-the-Hills where Carolyn’s Aunt Carole and Uncle Jim resided. The gathering was at a rented hall and was meant as not only a family reunion (with Carole and Jim’s kids Brian and Andrea ‘YaYa’ in attendance), but a retirement party for Jim.
Ashleigh and Avery
Ash and I park ourselves on the couch for a while and play with the baby
Dustin and his three girls Alex, Madi, and Emma
Brennan falls asleep on Carolyn’s Mom Kathy
Chuck and his self-proclaimed ‘Chuck’s Angels’ Carolyn, Rosemarie, Jeanette, and Melanie
Carolyn’s entire immediate family had driven in for the event. We spent a great afternoon eating, dancing, and playing with the babies. Both Brian and Andrea had fresh, new young ‘uns and I fell in love with both of them - Avery and Abby. The only thing I didn’t care for about the afternoon was that it was supposed to have a ‘Hawaiian luau’ theme. I was forced to participate by wearing the appropriate garb - which happened to be Carolyn’s Mom’s shirt - a ladies top no less! And don’t forget that our family was still planning to put together another Christmas newsletter, so I made sure to snap plenty of photos of the party.
Alex, Emma, and Madi (the stick figure) with Grandpa Chuck
Brian and Jen and their two girls Natalie and Abby
I still hadn’t lost my sense of fun
Giggling at one of those “for whatever reason” photos - Ash, me, Dustin, and Emma
Aunt Carole, YaYa, and her little boy Quentin
Ashleigh and I draw a truce for the week
After the afternoon of fun and frivolity, we would all head almost 150 miles southwest to the beautiful Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island.
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