The Lilac Tunnel: My Journey with Samantha

I tell Samantha about camping with my parents, about catching lightning bugs, listening to my mom telling stories around the firelight, and waking up to the smell of morning dew and bacon cooking over the fire. Samantha props herself up on her pillow and sighs and says she wishes she had a family like mine.

I wish I did, too, because my family isn’t like that anymore. But then something occurs to me. I tell Samantha that there are lots of kinds of families. Families don’t always look the same or share the same last name. What makes the family is what you do together and the memories you make. The way she jokes with Uncle Gard, the way Mrs. Hawkins fusses over her, and the way Grandmary sets rules to keep her safe. That’s a family. And I think she has a great one. And I’m going to miss it when I leave.

Samantha falls silent, but I can see her face in the moonlight and she’s smiling. She says she’s going to miss me, too, whenever I leave.

Long after Samantha is fast asleep, I lie awake in the open air, my mind spinning. I helped Samantha recognize the family she has all around her, and now I’m thinking about my own. What makes family is what you do together and the memories you make. And that gets me thinking. When I get home, I am going to step out of that room, and scrapbook with Gracie and my stepmom. Maybe when Dad gets home, I’ll ask him if he and I can go camping this summer. Maybe I’ll even ask if Gracie can come, too, so that we can all make memories together, as a family.