Only a year ago

At this time last June, my mother, 4 brothers, sister, their spouses and children, and my husband and our kids were on a cruise ship in Hawaii. We went to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, a gift given to us by Mom and Dad. Unfortunately, Dad hurt his back and wasn't able to go at the last minute, but he insisted that Mom and the rest of us go and have a good time and that he would be there in spirit. We did go and to say we had a wonderful time was an understatement. Anyone who has been to Hawaii can attest to its natural beauty everywhere you look. We experienced the thrill of watching red hot lava spewing from a volcano; we swam with green sea turtles and played in the waves; we watched glorious sunrises and sunsets.
For me, the best part of all was spending a week with my family. Every morning we developed a routine where we would all wander up to one of the top decks to eat breakfast and watch the morning start. We'd sip coffee, eat good food and just visit. No one had to rush off to work or to drive kids anywhere. It was a glorious week of leisure and getting to know each other on a daily basis, something my siblings and I hadn't done since we were kids at home. That was the most priceless memory of all.