Sonshine in London 51.5072°N, 0.1276° W
Our children are the best thing we will ever accomplish as parents. Becoming a mom seventeen and a half years ago, I did not know where my journey would take me with this beautiful collection of everything good in me and his father. He was, and still is, my life’s greatest source of joy and wonder. Needless to say, I was excited for the opportunity to fill this vessel with all the adventure and cultural experiences I could. I wanted hi to learn about the world, but also learn about himself through these experiences.
My son has always had a world globe in his room. When he was ten years old I gave him a U.S. map to put on his wall. He would dutifully label that map by pointing out the places he wanted to go and recorded the places he had already been (“been there,” “wanna go there.”). It was, and remains, my to-do list. By the age of fourteen, we had traveled each summer to celebrate his birthday. His favorite place to go was the beach - it did not matter which, so long as there was water and sand! For his fifteenth birthday I wanted to take him somewhere special. At the time, he had a fascination with London, England and British culture. I decided that year’s birthday trip would be London. I wanted to surprise him with the destination so for months he was told we were going to Idaho to visit a potato farm and museum (*no shade on the great state of Idaho and their potato farms/museums).
I began preparation five months before we would embark on this journey across the pond. Now, I’ve been told I can’t hold water so for me to hold this secret destination was nothing short of a miracle. We were at the airport when my son realized is birthday trip would be an international one. It was one of the most satisfying moments in my life to reveal that not only would we be going to London, but to Paris as well. I will share the deets on both locations in another post, but I want to focus on what this particular trip meant to me and my son.
For me, travel is not just a matter of having the ability to make arrangements or having the time and other resources to bring it to fruition. It is about the willingness to learn about other cultures and values different than your own. It is about exposure, vulnerability, and resigning our notions that education only takes place in a school. Traveling with my son has afforded me the opportunity to create a boundless space where my son can explore his curiosity, stretch his mind, and expand his view of the world. My son knew prior to the visit that tea is an important staple in British culture. I took this as an opportunity to not only let him indulge in the custom, but to learn more about why. I taught him as we strolled the streets in the neighborhood of Chelsea about the architecture of the row houses (we even stayed in one during our visit). We talked about and partook in traditional meals. He was fascinated with the cars driving on the “wrong side” of the road and fancied riding the subway whilst “minding the gap.” Seeing people that look like us, we talked about Britain’s role in the trading of enslaved persons and the enduring legacy it has had on that country as well as our own. I was proud to see my son engaging shopkeepers curious about America and our confounding politics and leaders.
Somewhere in the middle of our trip my son turns to me and says, “Mommy, this is the best birthday ever.” I thought my whole face and heart would explode with content. As a parent, I live for moments to make my kid proud and to see him smile. As this last year of high school comes to a close and his summer trip still in the works, I hope he remembers what I have taught him. I tell him often that I want him to continue to explore the world, discover his own path, and to be brave…just like my grandma Tee taught me.
