Life is a Highway

If you were to ask me to choose my top 10 favorite memories of my entire life, somewhere on the list would be "tennis camp". My Uncle, Arlo, is the women's tennis coach at the University of South Carolina, and every summer my brother, cousins, and I would spend a week at the tennis camp that he was in charge of. I remember so much of those weeks (and even some of my memories of tennis camp actually include tennis). I met so many great people each summer and looked forward to seeing them again the next summer. One of my favorite memories (although i did NOT enjoy it at the time) was when Alyssa and I got caught with some boys in our room (a BIG no-no) and along with our suite-mates, had to run "The Hill". I also remember spending our free time at the pool and jumping off the "platform" over and over until the bottom of my feet actually stung! I LOVED the time in our dorm room after the long day of playing tennis singing and dancing with the girls. I remember sitting in the college dorms (a huge deal for a middle schooler and high schooler) trying to imagine what it would be like in college, thinking it might be like a giant sleepover all the time (and basically it was). I particularly remember this one girl, BeBe, who was a ball of energy, a little mischievous (she was mostly responsible for the boys in our room), but a lot of fun! She was at camp for several years in a row so we got to know her pretty well. One of the last years we were at camp, all the girls gathered in Alyssa and I's room and I remember we had a spontaneous dance party and we sang the song "Life is a Highway" over and over and over until we broke the small portable tape player (yes, I said TAPE player). For years I would hear that song on the radio and memories of tennis camp would come flooding back into my mind. I wouldn't hear it very often but no matter where I was, I would secretly smile at a lifetime of summer memories.

So, last week, Noah and I were watching the movie "Cars" at my moms house and for those of you with kids, you know that the theme song for the movie is "Life is a Highway". Now, you must realize that Lighting McQueen (the main character of the movie) is a big hit in our house. We have Lighting McQueen everything: cups, plates, underwear, shoes, cookies, shirts, and lots of toys! Noah even knows the words to the song and we play it on my ipod all the time at Noah's request. Well, we were in my car after leaving my moms house, listening to the country station as usual, and "life is a Highway" came on the radio. I turned around to make eye contact with Noah to see the biggest smile on his face because it was the "Cars" song on the radio.

I think it is so cool that one song can have a special meaning for both Noah and myself.