Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Amboy Pharmacy

Savoring summer

It’s August now. What happened to summer? We had all these plans to make this summer memorable, and while we were able to make a few of those memories in June, July with its oppressive heat confined us to the comforts of air conditioning with our new best friend, Dora.

It’s August, but it’s not too late. Still plenty of time to squeeze the life out of summer. We’re making the next 30 or so days count. So begins our quest to save summer.

We start in Illinois. As you can see, the kids have wasted no time jumping in to summer activities.

Though neither of them are wearing swim pants in this picture, I’m confident we’re going to run through the stash we brought with us. Swimming is almost all Isabelle can talk about right now.

Not to be outdone by summer fun, my husband, his sister, our brother-in-law and I stole away while the kids were napping to the Amboy Pharmacy with its old-fashioned soda fountain to have an array of Green River treats — two Green River floats and a Green River milkshake. No bottled Green River, though. Not even the friendly staff at the Pharmacy could tell us where to find it.

Such a pity. It was a favorite drink of ours when my husband and I were dating. I can’t really explain what it tastes like, only that I like it and so far, Amboy is the only place I know to get it. May have to add it to our tour of food when we come home for visits.

To further our spontaneity and memory making, we decided to indulge in the penny candy (well, most of it cost 5 or 10 cents, but still …). The Pharmacy has this fantastic selection of loose candy you can hand select and purchase individually. We were all a litte giddy, like kids in a candy store (har, har, har), filling our little brown bags with our sugary selections, counting out our change like we were 10 and spending all the money we had. My husband and his sister recalled the many times their grandma would send them to the Pharmacy with a handful of change to buy whatever they wanted. The only restriction, they said, was candy cigarettes. They weren’t allowed to come home with those.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I’m pretty excited about this week in Illinois and a few fun things we have planned when we get back to Pennsylvania. Stay tuned.

Togetherness

Day 6. Most weeks, Fridays are family days. Phil’s done with classes for the week and has fewer obligations during the day, so to “celebrate” another week passed, we tend to spend the day together until he has to go to work that night.

Today, the kids and I spent the day together but mostly indoors because I’m still not 100 percent over this flu bug, whatever it is. My MIL did come to the rescue, though, for part of the morning, and took Isabelle outside to play while it was still nice.

I know a week isn’t a long time, and we’ve been sick for most of the week, but I feel like my husband is missing out. With his school and work schedule, he’s able to be around the kids often during the day, so he sees a lot of their everyday behavior and changes. I feel like we’re making memories without him, even if we’re not doing anything monumental.

A few days ago, I walked through Amboy, the town where much of our courtship took place, and even though it’s been more than three years, the memories of those days came flooding back. I remembered walks we’d taken together, and trips to the pharmacy to have a Green River float from the soda fountain there. It was like no time had passed at all.

I have great memories of our dating years, but in the midst of our present life, they’ve slipped to the back, only to be brought to the front by a return to the scene. In the coming weeks, the kids and I are going to have lots of experiences my husband won’t be able to share with us, and although I know this is the way life has to be right now, I’m not exactly happy about it.

My husband spent a year in Iraq, before we were married, and I felt like my life was on hold. I tried to do more than just work and sleep, but at times I felt guilty for doing things without him. I didn’t eat out much or see many movies. I do not envy the families who have to endure this day in, day out, for a year or more.

So, I will count my blessings and try not to feel guilty if we have fun without him. And I’ll pray for many, many memories to come.