The Bus...

Whitney Copeland:

Can’t get that damn bus out of my mind. That bus that we dreamt about. Schemed. Planned. Then actually bought. It was crazy and we knew it. It consumed our thoughts, time and every extra $ went into it for 2 years. It was what we wanted, what we needed. It was a way for us to simplify it was a retreat. We became minimalists to focus on us, to focus on Kyle’s recovery, to focus on time together, because we knew that’s what’s important. It was our safe haven. It was a beautiful solitude after hardships that this life can offer. 

Life can be cruel. I’ve learned without living the hard times we can’t really fully understand the beauty this life has to offer. To everything there is an opposite. We created the opposite of what we had been experiencing and it was beautiful. 

We celebrated birthdays, with our uneven cake from baking in an uneven parking lot. Holidays. We laughed at our 3ft Charlie Brown tree with homemade ornaments and lights that Krew & Emree put on. It was ugly, it was ours and it was perfect. Movie nights with popcorn everywhere. Riding on the bumpy purple bed driving across the country. Watching Krew in awe at all the vehicles on the road and his excitement describing each one. Visiting family and friends. Meeting complete strangers that have become lifelong friends. Laundry mat days. Kade learning the joy of reading. Forming a chain line at every Walmart across the country loading food for the week. Emree doing makeovers on whatever would sit still long enough. Giggles. Listening to the rain. Watching Pepper work on writing her very own chapter book. Hand washing every dish. Reading the little house on the prairie series out loud. Game nights. Bedtime prayers. Tripping on Krew’s cars that were endlessly strung out in a traffic jam fashion. 

We grew closer. We loved. We learned. We taught. We served. We laughed. We made so many memories. On that bus. I’ll miss it dearly and will cherish those memories forever. 

I’ve lived many places, making a home doesn’t matter much where it is or what’s in it. It just matters WHO is in it. Right now, I look forward to the day where the six of us will be back together, wherever that may be, that will be our next home.