freeze-dried love

When I was in 8th grade (Sacajawea Jr. High ~ Spokane, WA) I was able to take a Class Trip to Washington, D.C. I have no idea how my parents managed to pay for it, but I went. None of my friends went, so I roomed with 3 other girls who were best friends. I spent a lot of time with one of the Mom Chaperones (whose name I no longer remember, and whose daughter was not my friend).

There are lots of things about that trip that are very vivid in my memory. But I have already done a whole scrapbook on it, so I won't tell you about that stuff now. This is what I will tell you...

My parents gave me $40 to buy things for myself like postcards and souvenirs and treats. At every gift shop I thought long and hard about what I wanted to buy. I finally decided that I really wanted to take something home for my 5 sisters (Victoria wasn't born yet) and for my little brother.

I remember buying Cyndie a penny in a bottle (a little, teensy, tiny bottle ~ just the kind of thing Aubrey would love now). I may have given Karen the same thing. I bought my mom a Spoon for her Spoon Collection. At the Air & Space Museum I bought some freeze-dried ice cream to share with them. I can't remember all of the other things...but I was eventually able to find something for everyone in my family.

At one of the stores (the gift shop at the base of the Washington Monument) I gave the cashier a $20 (for the penny in a bottle). He gave me change for a $10, but I didn't realize it until I was almost to the front door. I went back and explained what happened and he told me I was wrong. I knew I wasn't wrong...I was very careful with my money and I knew that the $20 I gave him was the last of it. I felt myself starting to cry and I didn't want to cry in front of my classmates (even though I didn't really know any of them), so I went back and sat on the bus. When my Chaperone friend saw me she asked what was wrong, and as I explained, I started to cry. She marched me off the bus and took me back up to the cashier, but he gave her the same answer and refused to give me the correct change. She gave him our hotel phone number (and her home number) so he could call if his till came up wrong ~ but he never did.

Because of that error, I only had a few dollars to get something for myself. Which made me very sad because I had wanted to buy a charm, a t-shirt and some other things that I thought were cool. I ended up with enough money to buy a small bag of shredded money at the US Mint...and probably a soda and a few treats for the return airplane ride.

I was very happy to give everyone a souvenir when I got home. It made me feel very grown-up. My dad always brought us something (even if it was the airline knife, fork and spoon he stole from first class) when he came home from a trip, and I wanted to do the same thing.

I wasn't sure if any of my sisters remembered that trip (I knew Scott didn't because he was too young). But Sheila took a business trip to Washington, D.C. this week, and when she got home she said she had a surprise for me. I asked if it was shredded money...not thinking she'd remember. She said it was better, and this is what she gave me (I think technically it was for the kids):

I don't think Sheila knows how much this little bag of freeze-dried love meant to me. She remembered that I was nice to her! And hopefully that means that she knows that I have always loved her.