Now or Never

Imagine you are taking your little sister and your mother on their very first international trip together. Then pretend that you forced them to go backpacking through central Europe and they look like this:

Then imagine that you are in the Budapest train station trying to find your train to Prague and you realize it is the one that has already started slowly pulling away.

What do you do?

Apparently, you jump on the moving train and hope that your mother and sister:

1. Follow your lead

2. Don't let their rucksacks pull them under the train

I yell at them to run and as I watch their encumbered bodies race and struggle to hop on, I realize...that was a really bad decision.

And just like that, this is where some stories find their conclusion. I was fortunate that both my mother and sister decided to jump for it - and made it.

My mom looks at me a bit winded and gives a nervous half smile as she hobbles into the car, grasping both walls for support. I can see that they are both proud of jumping onto their first moving train.

It was quite an accomplishment - I'm proud of them too!