In the whole of my life, I am most proud of my children. Some of the most important values Papa and I tried to impart to our girls were: independence, open mindedness, and planning ahead.
Very early in our girls lives, I realized we remembered whole years by the trips we took. Papa had a demanding job, so I would plan one big trip each year for two to three weeks. When the girls were young, we visited Sanibel and Captiva, looked for sea shells, and played in the water. We went to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, renting houses on the beach. On a trip to Spanish Wells, the girls had their first experience hanging clothes on a clothesline and eating mangoes. Once they started to school, we graduated to sailing trips. On the first of those, Whitney literally turned green as we left the St. Vincent harbor in a squall. The next year, we sailed the Abacos in the Bahamas and rented a house on Elbow Cay. Whitney fell on Elbow Cay while running in flip flops and broke her wrist. Papa made a splint from a magazine and a belt and Whitney still did her chore that evening, washing the dishes. Our most memorable sailing trip was in the British Virgin Islands and seeing the Baths on Virgin Gorda. On the last day of the trip we had an incident in the harbor that Papa doesn't like to talk about.
As the girls got older, we made several trips to Europe and enjoyed visiting France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and a bit of Germany together. During their teenage years, each of the girls was busy with sports. We bought a vacation house in Patagonia, AZ in 1995 and would go there for short trips a couple of times a year. We made wonderful memories hiking and going to Nogales to shop in Mexico. When Audrey graduated from college, we went to Ecuador and stayed in historic rancho haciendas. We went to Italy at Christmas the year Claire and Whitney graduated from college, going to Christmas Eve service at the Vatican, staying on the Amalfi Coast, and spending a day in Pompeii. We met in Casablanca the year Audrey and Dan got married and traveled around Morocco. Three years ago, we met in Buenos Aires for a week before Whitney's first baby was born.
Now our girls are married and are making memories with their own families. Papa and I enjoy the moments we share with each of them through the year. There is nothing quite like picking up the phone and hearing the word "Mom."
