Life is __________________

It’s a fill-in-the-blank I’ve been challenged with a lot recently. There’s the answer I am supposed to give. There’s my initial reaction and the answer I’d offer if I was truly honest with myself. There’s the answer I want to want and there’s the ‘now’s not a good time’ response.

But what is the answer?

My wife and I took the kids on a road trip (Life is adventure).
We packed six of us into the minivan and headed north (Life is intimate).
I worked a bit on the road (Life is expensive)
and met the lovely folks at the tire place in Ohio thanks to a flat tire (Life is unpredictable).
We watched a lot of baseball like my father and I have done (Life is history)
and even played catch at some national park (Life is fun).
We rode over mountains and drove through tunnels (Life is diverse).
We stopped and paid our respects at battlefields where a lot of men lost their lives (Life is finite)
and where a few men stood against injustice (Life is courage).

Then we stopped to see lifelong friends that have far away because Life is relationships.

Yep. That’s it. Life is relationships.

My family and I did all the things and went to all the places and ate all the local fare together. Each place we visited highlighted the love and trouble and sacrifice of those that built it. All for someone.

We quizzed the kids regularly: what was your favorite part of the day? Of the trip thus far?

I had two:

I loved watching my wife watch the kids. She planned and saved and thought and worried and still found space to giggle each time the kids experienced something resonant.

I also got to connect with an old friend. We spent a lot of time together during a season past and then life pulled us apart rather abruptly. Years later, he is the same guy, yet grounded, weathered and has grown into the man we set out to be all those years ago.

We were able to visit some of my favorite places and do some of my favorite things, yet the highlights of my trip were the people: the relationships that are young and old, tested and proved true.