We were all set – all 5 of us – to leave for MI in our van. Yeah, the one that seats 7. Then, late on the evening before we were to leave as I was driving the van home from watching a movie with Brett, I heard a squeaky noise and noticed the battery light coming on. And it happened more than once. I knew what this meant: no van for the 10-hour trip. We five were taking the little Toyota.

Now understand what this means in 2009, because it doesn’t mean what it meant in 1976 when my parents piled me and my sisters into their Toyota. We didn’t have iPods and MP3 players, portable DVD players, cell phones, blue tooth sets, head phones, ear buds, Gameboys and DSes … shall I go on? I haven’t even mentioned the luggage yet. Back then, we just got in. Today, it’s like we move in.

You get the picture, don’t you? Boy, was it crowded! And by our own choice –we’re the ones voluntarily addicted to non-stop communication devices and audio stimulation of all types. But we all got settled in and started on our way – full electronics store and all!

I’ll skip the details of each mile and simply tell you, believe it or not, we were just fine. Both there and back! 20 hours in the non-van (which is rare these days for a family of more than four) didn’t kill us. It didn’t even injure us! Truth is, it did us a world of good. You’d be surprised how grateful everyone was when we returned. And not just for the van; for each other. No kidding! You know, sometimes tight spaces can lead to happy faces.

The next day I asked the kids if they were okay with me renting out the main floor of our home, as well as the upstairs, and moving all of us to the basement. I’ll let you know what they say.