This weekend was supposed to be big.
It was the two year anniversary of my biological father passing away and I wanted to celebrate his life with some of my closest friends at his favorite place, our family farm in Heavener, Oklahoma.
Me and eight of my closest friends were supposed to go and enjoy the weekend like my father and I used to. Which included fishing, trail riding and eating good food.
It was a weekend we had been planning for since September.
I had to cover a football game Friday night, so we wouldn’t be getting to the farm until 2 a.m.
A few hours before the game, one of my friends texted me and told me she wouldn’t make it.
No big deal.
But it got me wondering who else may not show up.
So I texted everyone to see if they were still planning on going down with me.
Out of eight, only two said yes.
I was frustrated because I had spent money on food, made sure there were plenty of places for everyone to sleep and sleeping bags for them to sleep in.
Whatever.
I was going to attempt to not let this ruin the weekend.
By the time we got to the farm I had been awake for 22 hours and I was exhausted. I only slept for three hours before the sun crept up into the sky again and woke me up.
I sat on the front porch and watched as the yellow and red leaves slow drifted to the ground with each gust of wind.
For the first time in a long time it felt like I could finally breathe again.
Away from all the tension of the election, stress of an upcoming surgery and anticipation for the future, I was able to finally relax.
There’s nothing like skipping rocks on the river, soaking up the sun on the barge or watching your dog run beside your four wheeler as you fly through the pasture.
Those are little life charms. Moments in life that you look back on when life starts getting hard and joy seems so far out of reach.
I had anticipated a big weekend filled with adventures and stories to tell for years to come.
Instead, I got to spend time with my two best friends, take a break from current stress and store up new life charms for the future.
So, next time I get frustrated with friends who bail or a house that always seems to have a problem, I’ll just look back on the time I spent tromping through the woods with Hannah and Kyle, pulling long vines off the tall oak trees.