Kind Like Katey

In August the year before I was diagnosed with cancer, Stacy’s best friend Mitch invited us to come hang out with them at the beach.

They had a condo, but because apparently we like making life more complicated than necessary, Stacy and I decided to take the camper.

We stayed at this little campground called Barefoot RV Resort. It was a cute place with two pools, not far from the beach, and we ended up having an absolute blast.

It rained some, but who cares? We fished off the pier. We went out to dinner. We drank. We laughed. We hung out with friends.

It was just one of those really good trips.

Then, the day before we were supposed to leave, everyone started talking about a hurricane coming.

Well.

Campers and hurricanes don’t exactly mix.

We decided we’d get up the next morning, pack everything up, hook up the camper and get the hell out of there before the weather got bad.

Solid plan.

Our execution could have used some work.

We got up the next morning and started packing everything, but apparently we were not moving quite as fast as Mother Nature thought we should.

Right about the time we were trying to hook up the camper, the sky opened up.

And I mean opened up.

There we were, running around trying to get everything hooked up in a complete downpour. By the time we finally climbed into the truck, both of us were soaked to the bone.

Not damp.

Not “we got caught in a little rain.”

Soaked.

Our clothes were stuck to us, our hair was dripping, and now we had a several-hour drive home ahead of us.

At that point, what else could we do but laugh?

We pulled out of the campground thinking we were going to outrun the storm.

We did not.

That damn hurricane rode our asses practically the entire way home. 😂

Meanwhile, the dog was stretched out in the back seat, sleeping peacefully without a care in the world while Stacy and I were wet, tired and trying to drag a camper home ahead of a hurricane.

Looking back now, I love this memory even more.

At the time, it was just a fun beach weekend with friends and a ridiculous trip home. I had no idea that within the next year my life was going to change in ways I couldn’t imagine.

Maybe that’s why these ordinary memories mean so much to me now.

The dinners. The drinks. Fishing off the pier. Laughing with friends. Getting absolutely drenched while trying to hook up a camper.

We weren’t doing anything extraordinary.

We were just living.

And sometimes you don’t realize how good those regular old days were until they’re behind you.

Although, for the record, if there’s a hurricane coming next time, we’re packing the camper a little damn faster.