Fair Fun

Last night we made our annual trek to the Montana State Fair but this year was unusual. Generally we go as a big family conglomerate but this year most of the family went on Monday and since Steve worked we went last night with Erica and my sister Lora.

There's something about the fair that immediately transports me to childhood and I am flooded with fun memories of family time, laughter, and new adventures. Inevitably I remember that one year I fell on a tent stake while running to a ride causing a large gash across my knee (to this day I have a scar). My dad simply took out his handkerchief, and with love and gentleness tied it around my knee and onward we went.

I also remember the fair 2 years ago which came a couple months after Steve deployed. We went on a Friday night and I had just returned from a business trip. Minutes after arriving home my sweet-always-been-with-his-momma-during-deployments dog Gizmo had a stroke and was resting from the medicine the vet gave him while I went (he didn't make it through that and the Monday following I had to put him down).

It's funny how so many memories can be wrapped up in something like the fair. What seems like a simple annual event is truly so much more than that to me. It represents an event that further shapes the memories I have and the bonds created as a family in my childhood and again as an adult. I see my dad everywhere and remember the joy he had taking his grandbabies on the carousel for the first time and playing games with them. It reminds me of simpler times and I cherish those memories more every year.

Pictures: the first is Steve and Erica as we waited for Lora to arrive; the second is Steve and I displaying our last ever free tickets on behalf of the county. As a county employee Steve always received 2 tickets and we've laughed for years at his annual bonus (I used to get real, monetary bonuses so this was always funny to us). The third is Erica and I doing nothing in particular!