By SARAH GESUALDO
Contributing Writer
I don’t know about y’all, but my spring break didn’t go how I had originally hoped. And you know what? I loved it. The week before spring break, all I could think about was how disappointed I was that I wasn’t able to go anywhere or do anything over the break.
Actually, thinking back, I don’t think I have ever done anything for spring break so I shouldn’t have really been that surprised. Even though I was looking forward to the time off, I wanted to relax on the beach, not on the couch in the house I’ve lived in since I was four. But when Feb. 28 came around, I found myself packing my backpack with sweat shirts, not a swimsuit.
In my mind, my ideal image of spring break always included friends, sun, laughter, road trips and anything else that my crazy imagination might scheme up. But how would I ever get any of this when I was going home for the week to spend it with my family? Surprisingly, even though the sun part was sort of sparing, my ideal expectations turned into reality, just not in the way that I had hoped.
This time last year, my sister was engaged. One of my brothers was missing an entire month of college because he was in the hospital, literally fighting for his life. My other brother lived across town with his wife.
Now? My sister is happily married and my now healthy brother has moved to Kennesaw. So as you can imagine, we don’t really spend that much time all together any more. Growing up as the youngest of four, you might be able to understand why I miss the company now.
Spring break may not have been a week with my college friends, but it turned into the week that I spent with my oldest friends, my family. I will be the first to readily admit that my parents and siblings were my first group of best friends and still are to this day.
Even though I wasn’t lying on the beach everyday soaking in the sun, I was able to lie on my living room floor every single day right next to my sister as we tried to push through our newest form of bonding and girl time: pilates.
Even though I wasn’t able to go out on the town with friends to fancy restaurants, I was able to see the smile on my mom’s face when I took her out for a special birthday lunch at the Mall of Georgia.
Even though I wasn’t able to go shopping for new spring clothes or anything tourist-y in another city, I was able to catch up with my brother as we shopped for groceries to make dinner together.
So for those of you who are disappointed that you couldn’t go anywhere different for your break, remember that sometimes it’s the most ordinary things that become the most special to you.
As I sit here writing this, eating saltines, and procrastinating, I wouldn’t choose to go to the beach, I would just want to go back home. Sometimes our hopes are exceeded even when we aren’t expecting them to be.