I am Smiling on the Outside, but am Crying on the Inside (only just a little).

Don’t feel sorry for me. I’m not complaining. Just explaining.

One of our favorite vacation traditions is to spill into the golf cart after dinner and head to the local treat shop for a little something. The kids love it, the adults love it, and we wouldn’t miss it. It’s as much about the ritual (we ALWAYS do it) and the golf cart (kids negotiating whose turn it is to drive, the wind in our hair, going slow) as it is about the treats.

In my world “treat” is a relative word, and typically does not involve anything bought at a sweet shop. That’s because my diet is helping kill the Lyme and other bad bacteria that have turned my digestive tract to roadkill. Among other things, those buggers love sugar, so sugar is out of my diet. And that means so are store bought treats.

Should the whole family miss out because I can’t partake? Absolutely not. And just because I’m not partaking in the food (note my empty hand), it doesn’t mean I’m not partaking in the experience. And last night was a great one. It was one of those serendipitous moments where all our moods and love and intentions collided in the best way possible.

We were close and we laughed and we never wanted it to end. It was spectacular in its simplicity.

Would my experience have been made better by a bite of chocolate? I’ll never know, but I wouldn’t trade last night’s experience for any bite of any thing.