Facing Our Fears -- Mrs. Hamilton

It was great seeing Lauren Mayo and learning more about her research at the University of Missouri. I am very proud of her accomplishments. Who knew that encouraging a kid to show an animal would lead to her success?

It’s the start of day 3 on our tour and the kids are getting to know one another and enjoying each other’s company. We learn all kinds of things about each other when we are eating meals, writing in our journals and blog and riding in the cars.

Something most people don’t know about me is that I do not enjoy heights! I once thought I could help re-roof our house only to cause a complete stop in progress so I could be coaxed off of the roof. Yesterday, in our travels we took some backroads from the University of Missouri to the Purina Research Farm. We had to cross the Missouri River. No big deal, if we were on a major road. As I approach the river, I see an old iron bridge spanning the Missouri. So I take a deep breath and hope the kids don’t pick up on my nervousness. As I get closer, the bridge is under construction and traffic is stopped, allowing one direction to cross the bridge at a time. I stopped at the edge of the bridge. You don’t realize how much a bridge moves when you are driving across it, but when you are sitting still and a big semi drives across it, you move a lot. I guess the fear showed up in my eyes and the kids did a great job of keeping me calm! After several minutes (that seemed like hours), it was our turn to cross the river. It was very narrow, so I drove down the center line. I get just over the center of this high bridge and realize the right lane of the bridge is full of construction workers and equipment. That means I have to move over to the left lane, which puts me on the side where I can see over the edge of the bridge. While I am trying to stay calm and focus on the land at the other end of the bridge, the kids are very excited to see how high we are and how big the river is. They are taking pictures and telling each other to “look”. Not me! I am focused on trying to get off the bridge. When I finally made it to the other side, my fingers and knuckles were white and stiff and I could take a deep breath and relax. I survived!

We have the Mississippi to cross today, but I am going to request we stay on the “big” roads.