It was about 8 years ago now that I fulfilled one of my dreams and took my kids on a trip to California. I had always wanted to go to Disney and with them, but had never had the chance. I was having a great year in home sales, so I decided to buy the tickets and plan a surprise trip. Planning this was so much fun! The tools on the Disney site were great and easy to use. Planning activities, where to stay, rental cars, event tickets – it was all there. I remember filling out the info to receive a call from Mickey Mouse to tell the kids about the trip. This is how they were going to hear – a call from Mickey – how fun would that be?!

The day came and we got our things together to head to the airport. I’m pretty sure a lot of folks thought I was crazy. A single mom taking 3 kids (then 12, 10 and 6) to a place she’d never been on her own to spend 5 days having fun. I actually thought they were all nuts. How hard could it be?

I’m pretty sure that will be a trip we never forget. Disneyland, Universal Studios, Midevil Times, shopping, and more Disney. I had brought a GPS from home so I could navigate our way from place to place and not get lost. I didn’t want to get stuck in a set itinerary, and the need to be spontaneous is always there, so I figured I would be courageous, rent a car, and hook up the GPS to lead the way.

Things were going really great and we were having the time of our lives. We arrived just after Halloween, when the parks were decorating for Christmas, so the park was beautiful. The “It’s a Small World” attraction was just amazing as they’d covered the whole face of it in lights. We rode that ride 4 times in a row because it was so pretty. I don’t remember smiling that hard ever – it was just great to be with my kids and have so much fun. This was a dream coming true.

Our trip had been really great. We had a 2 day Disney pass, so we went the first night and the last. My plan was to get everything done in between and spend the last night at the park, have dinner, do rides, and see the fireworks. I just LOVE fireworks. The day went without a hitch. We had a great dinner at the Pirates of the Caribbean – our favorite ride. I had always wanted to eat dinner at the restaurant the ride passed by, so this was our chance – and we did it. It was magical. What a trip!

The night played out well, and we saw the fireworks then headed back to the hotel. It was very late and we were all exhausted so our beds were calling our names. We got all buckled in to the car, and pretty instantly the youngest 2 fell asleep. I set the GPS and we headed back to the hotel.

I don’t know what it is about night time, but things always look so different. The landmarks never change and neither does the road, butt my perception sure does and it makes for a more interesting drive. I find the older I get, the less I like driving at night. I don’t know what happened on this particular night, but I just couldn’t get it right. The GPS was set. I knew where we were going. I could see the hotel from the highway. I just couldn’t get there. Every single time I got to the exit I couldn’t figure out which one to take. We were on a huge highway, with exits going every direction, and every single time I took an exit, the stupid qGPS would say “route reclaculation”. Seriously? The first time it was no big deal. Ooops, missed it. No worries. I’ll drive ahead down the road, take a turn around, head back the opposite direction, turn around on the highway and try again. “Route recalculation”. Darn it! Missed it again. Ok, this time I think I know what I did wrong. Let’s do this again. Drive up, turn around, drive back, turn around, try again. Shoot!! “Route recalculation”!! Why does she keep saying that! I can’t tell what road to take!

I was frustrated at first and a little embarrassed. My oldest was still awake and I didn’t want to scare him, and being flustered wasn’t going to help. After the 6th “route recalculation”, we looked at each other and started to laugh. I think we’d been driving the same stretch of road for about an hour at that time. Now my other 2 woke up (I guess we were laughing too loud), and kindly pointed to the hotel, asking why we weren’t there yet. We just laughed harder. On the 7th try I missed again and seriously didn’t know whether to laugh harder or start to cry. Nope. Cryings not for me so we laughed. And laughed. And laughed. On the 8th try we finally made the exit, and got back to the hotel.

That is a night none of us will ever forget. How did we get it right finally? My 12 year old held the GPS and compared the 8 exits. Each time we struck one off and tried the next. My middle guy watched for the turn around points. My youngest cheered and repeated “woute wecalculashun” everything time the GPS repeated it. 8 times we tried. 7 times we missed the mark, and the 8th time we made it. We did it, but it took all of us together.

We have used that phrase a lot over the last 8 years, and all of us smile every time we do. We’ve used it a lot over the last 5 months as well. A little more sobering, but it also reminds us that if we just don’t give up we can make it. It might take some extra help, some twists and turns, but we’ll get there eventually.

Isn’t that what life is like? And the mental health journey is definitely no different. It’s ok to change routes, just don’t lose sight of the big picture. We’ll get there. Eventually.