A Good Memory

It's funny how a discussion on how bad the Cubs are this season sparked a memory I have from six years ago - a memory that has nothing to do with the Cubs:

It was August 2000 and I spent the day with my mom, dad, sister, and 6-week old niece. We traveled to Sawyer, Michigan to go blueberry picking. It was an annual trip - one of my father's co-workers had a summer home up there and invited the whole department (as well as family and friends) to pick blueberries once a year. After a long day of picking blueberries and having lunch in the hot summer sun, we headed home. Not a long drive, but long enough to make everyone sleepy. My brother-in-law was out of town (overnight), and my sister (a first-time mom) was a bit nervous about spending the night alone with her baby, so my mom offered to spend the night at her house. That left my dad and me to fend for ourselves...

After the long day, neither of us was interested in making dinner, so we decided to try a new Italian take-out restaurant - La Rosa's (unfortunately, it went out of business a couple of years ago). I think we just got a pizza, but perhaps there was some pasta involved. We drove together to pick up our order and talked about our trip to Michigan - trying to decide how to use the blueberries. When we got home, we ate the pizza at the kitchen table and both mentioned how much we liked it. After that, we sat in the nice, cool family room and watched the first televised preseason Chicago Bears game.

I'm not sure why this is such a good memory for me - honestly, it was one of my most favorite days. Maybe it was because it was just my dad and me. Maybe it was the good pizza. Maybe it was the Bears game (after a summer of baseball). Maybe it was the happy realization that fall was just around the corner. I think it was a combination of all of these.

I told this story to my husband this evening. I knew that I should write this down before I forgot it (the memory). I have a headache today and am feeling tired - I told myself I would write about it tomorrow. I decided that life gets too crazy sometimes and I would regret it if I ever forgot this memory, so I'm writing it now.