Just For Fun

By Bernadette A. Moyer

“Did you come just for fun?” She asked. I didn’t know her name as we shared pleasantries while we both waited for our husbands to bring the cars around. She was from Jackson Mississippi and we had been staying in the same hotel in Biloxi Mississippi. When I told her we came from Baltimore Maryland in her very southern Mississippi accent she wanted to know if we “came just for fun.” I had to chuckle because I guess we had made this trip for fun.

Her baby girl was in a stroller and lit up when I smiled at her, according to her mother she just turned one year old. I was reminded of how often babies just took to me. How I loved kids and was always enlightened and having fun while interacting with them.

As we drove off I couldn’t stop thinking about her question and her glee when she asked it. In our more than twenty year history together my husband and I both had a lot of responsibility in our lives. For decades we had the two big careers that demanded our attention 24/7 along with raising our three children and managing two homes. We were always busy and we were always working. Sure we had fun but fun was the last thing on our agenda. We always had a lengthy “to do” list and that meant work.

Since his recent retirement after 35 years of employ we have slowed down quite a bit and in that slowing down we have carved out much more time for having fun!

Our trip to Biloxi was “just for fun!” We went to the pool and to the beach and we drove 45 minutes and enjoyed a day trip to New Orleans where we attended a Jazz Artists Festival. I had my cards read we ate at Café’ Du Monde and we shopped. We attended a live musical concert of one of our favorite country music artists at the Hard Rock Café. We had a blast! It was a trip that we both agreed upon was a lot of fun. One of our best ever.

In retrospect we often gave up “fun” for the seriousness of the numerous responsibilities we had taken on. Now I think more and more about living our lives and doing more and more things that are “just for fun!”

So … are you having fun? And if not what could/should you be doing differently to incorporate more fun into your life?

Here is to living a life that includes trips and experiences and events that are truly “just for fun!”

Bernadette on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer