Back from vacation and relieved to see we look happy in the photos we took. Because while we were there I wasn’t too sure. All that togetherness in the car and the hotel room felt like an endurance test, or a reality TV show. “A family of four trapped in a confined space for 72 hours. See who cracks first. Will it be Mom? Look at her twitchy eye. She’s already on the edge…”

We’re not used to being within touching distance of each other for hours on end. Some of us do not touch gently. Some of us hit and slap. Some of us are not very civilized. It makes the ones of us who are supposed to be civilized become uncivilized in the time it takes to scream “STOP IT!” four times fast.

When we pulled into the driveway of our house today, Boy said, “I love this place.” I do too. It has more than one room.