My father, stepmother, and I used to take vacations every
summer. Always some destination in the
United States, and almost always dragging an RV behind us. When I was younger, my brother and grandparents
came as well, but by the time of this story, my grandparents had long-since died,
and my brother was too cool to hang around with us anymore. I still loved to travel. Even though I was in college and getting
busier and busier every year, I still cherished the times when we’d set off for
some unknown adventure.
The year we went to Corpus Christie was a particularly
special vacation for me, because it marked the first time that I was able to
bring a girlfriend along. KE was an
amazing girlfriend. She was a lot of fun
to be around, loved to do all the same things I did, and I obsessively adored
her. As a matter of fact, everyone
did. She was positively likeable, and my
family took to her immediately.
It’s a long drive to the southeastern, Texas coast, so we
spent the time singing to the radio, talking, or playing car games. On one occasion, I was leaning on the console
between the front seats, and I pointed at something in the road. “What’s that in the road?” I asked. Without missing a beat, my father said, “A
head.” It took us all a few seconds, but
one by one, we started laughing. It was
so simple and so absurd that it was funny.
Capitalizing on the captive audience, my father said, “What’s that
running down…your leg?” More laughter
ensued. Wanting to join the fun too, KE
said, “What are you…stupid?”
The car fell into complete silence. We were all trying to gauge if she was joking
or if she had completely missed the point of the game. Either way, I couldn’t help it, and I burst
out laughing. Another quality of an
amazing girlfriend, is that she’s a good sport when she’s the butt of her own
goof-up.
