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When I was a boy, my family would take a two-week vacation every summer to St. Petersburg, Florida. We would stay in the Sea Breeze Cottages at Madera Beach right on the St. John’s Pass, where the river met the Gulf of Mexico...

Keep Driving! Who Needs a College Football Potty Stop?

by Gray Ghost (Senior Writer)

68

427 reads

Opinion

November 30, 2008


When I was a boy, my family would take a two-week vacation every summer to St. Petersburg, Florida. We would stay in the Sea Breeze Cottages at Madera Beach right on the St. John’s Pass, where the river met the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn’t anything very fancy, but to me it was paradise. I lived for those two weeks of the summer!

Pop was a railroad man, and worked hard for a living, but there wasn’t enough money to finance our extra-curricular activities. He would do roofing or build boats to save the money needed for our summer excursions to Florida. I will always be grateful to Pop for the time of togetherness he provided for us. We were creating memories that still flood our minds even though he has been gone now for six years.

The days before vacation began we would begin our preparations. We would make sure our fishing gear was in good shape, and see to it that we had what we needed for the two weeks. I remember being so stoked with anticipation that I could hardly sleep the night before. Mom always tried to convince us that if we didn’t go to sleep the morning would never arrive.

We got up early before the sun came up, and began our journey to my childhood paradise. I won’t bore you with the details of the trip, but the highlights were eating breakfast in Callahan, and the yearly stop at the Orange Shop in Calhoun. That was it.

Oh yeah, and were we kid’s thrilled whenever Mom would ask Pop to take a potty stop! Pop was so intent on reaching our destination that potty stops were viewed as a necessary evil. Bathroom time was wasted time. To this day, I am certain that I have oversized kidneys from the stretching they took on those trips.

I learned something valuable during those summer adventures: For every destination that we desire, there is a journey that leads us there.

With my own kids during our vacation travels, I have tried to make the journey as enjoyable as possible, but regardless—the journey is still essential to arriving at the destination. You can’t just be there, you have to go there (which is why preseason polls are stupid!).

Everybody wants the destination, but few are willing to take the journey that leads them there. I recently spoke at a large marriage conference and there were many who wanted to arrive at the destination of a happy marriage, but how many are willing to take the journey that leads them there?

As I watch my own children mature into respected adults and assume their place in society, I cannot help but be reminded that there was a long and patient journey that brought them and us to this rewarding destination.

On Jan. 8, in Miami, a football team will be crowned national champions of the college football world. At that moment, those young men, their coaches, their school, and their families will have reached the destination they so longed to realize.

Author Poll

Does "holding it" really stretch your kidneys?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Only after drinking prune juice
vote to see results
Author Poll Results

Does "holding it" really stretch your kidneys?

  • Yes

    50.0%

  • No

    37.5%

  • Only after drinking prune juice

    12.5%
  • Total votes: 16
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68 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Salaar Arshad Shamsi 7 months ago

    a truly inspiring article, GG - the desire for the journey to get to your final destination needs to be there.

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  2. Mitch at sportschatplace.com 7 months ago

    Thanks for the read that once again reaches way beyond the football field. I think the craziest part about goals is how the long term ones change, not just as we get older but we realize what we want. I think when I was younger a lot of my goals were money oriented many of them I achieved and many I didn't, but now that I'm older I realize that it is rare if not never that financial goals ever lead to long term happiness unless they are for raising money for charity or something like buying your first home.
    Before I hijack this thread and start talking about stuff totally unrelated I just think these are lessons we learn in life and that success isn't something someone else can measure, it can only be measured within.
    Keep them coming!

    Mitch

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Mitch my friend, you are a wealthy man just from the lessons that life has taught you. Some people never learn the things that you expressed in your comment. It was all very related. Thanks!

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  3. Dorothy Willis 7 months ago

    I loved going to St. Petersburg too! What a small world. I hope to be able to gird my kidneys for one last trip there with my grandchildren to gather shells on the beach at sunup and sit with my feet in the water as the waves wash in and out. I love the little butterfly shelled creatures that will burrow down to the sand between your toes, sanddollars and conch shells. That is a jouney I look forward to make just one more time. The kids are lucky that Grandma's kidneys aren't that great and Grandpa has to make frequent stops so nobody suffers.

    Thanks for the St. Pete memories that came flooding back as I read your article. I agree with your analogy, but the memories made the article most enjoyable for me.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Wow Dorothy, that is neat that we walked the same beaches and enjoyed the same beauty! It is a small world indeed. I hope that you and your grandchildren have the time of your lives! You deserve it. Thanks for the comment!

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  4. Mary Jo Buchanan 7 months ago

    Loved the story of your personal journey and the journey that all of us take together with our respective sports that we love. Our Nascar journey is over for the season so I know what it means to be without the sport you love until the season - and the journey - starts anew. Thanks for once again reminding us hat is truly important - the more personal journeys that we are all on in our lives. Thanks for those memories!!

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Thanks Mary Jo! I am hoping that #24 comes back next year with a vengeance and wins it all. I appreciate your comment.

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  5. 12 7 months ago

    Ghost, this story reminded me of my family taking our trips from Birmingham to Gulf Shores or Panama City, or after we moved from Alabama, trips from Southwest Va. to Birmingham, and back home. The potty stops were the stuff of which memories were made, and I still cherish those memories to this day. Our heroes in college football are still very young men...sometimes we forget just how young they are. They have traveled the journey. The two-a-days, the laps, the sprints, the one-on-one drills, everything it takes to make it to the final destination. They too will have everlasting memories of these days. Thanks for another great article, and thanks for another trip down memory lane.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      12, thanks for the comment. I guess everyone can relate to the family trips, and especially the potty predicaments! You are right about the football players and their journey. I have a few trophies in my office, but it's not the hardware that I cherish - it's the price that I paid in blood, sweat, and tears that they represent.

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  6. Tim Pollock 7 months ago

    Enjoyed the read as always, GG.

    Football season ends, basketball begins. Jump aboard. Everyone head on over to the CBB section come Dec. 7th--and feel free to take a break from hoops from late December to early January.

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  7. Michael Oleszek 7 months ago

    Awesome article. My wife's family is from that area of Florida, and I know all about John's Pass, Madera Beach, etc. and all of the stuff they have down there. Nothing fancy, but some of the best seafood anywhere.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Michael, we used to cross the old bridge and get a frosty rootbeer in the frosted mug from A&W. That was such a treat. It's funny how you look back and how little it took to give kids a thrill back then. You are right about the seafood! Awesome! Thanks for the comment.

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    • Michael Oleszek 7 months ago

      Whenever I go there now, I always hit this one mom and pop place for ice cream. Its right on the dock at John's pass. I've had ice cream from coast to coast and everywhere in between, and there's is the best.

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  8. GeorgiaDawg 7 months ago

    Great article GG. Glad you are back writing again!! This has been a tough one for the Dawgs! We knew it would be, but had hoped for a better result.

    As a Dawg fan I know it will be a busy off season... First a bowl win, then beg Stafford and Moreno to stay (not likely)... then on to signing day.... Can't wait to get started....

    POTD!!

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Thanks Dawg, I appreciate the comment and the pick! I am excited about our prospects for next year, and I hope Stafford and Knowshon hang around. We shall see. We have some really good recruits coming our way. We need some major help on defense for sure.

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  9. Michael Collins 7 months ago

    Enjoyable article, Gray. As the football seasons accumulate, we each have our memories and the history of our teams becomes part of us, along with hopes for next year. Imagine someone telling us to separate ourselves from that history.

    But winter is the time for our discontent.

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  10. Lou Vozza 7 months ago

    Nice article. Good piece of writing.

    I'm in the same boat. Sports for me pretty much ends this weekend though. I like the bowls and everything, but they are exhibition matches. The NC game is OK, but I hate the layoff. Kills the game for me. I wish they would play it the second week of December, or cancel the conf champ game and move it to this week.

    For me, the NC game is Saturday night in Atlanta.

    It'll be a long wait until Labor Day 2009.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Lou, I know how you feel. Now that I live here in Idaho I can drown the doldrums by heading for the mountains and skiing off the blues! It helps pass the time.

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  11. thomas moreland 7 months ago

    there s always the NBA ,, UG,,, or march madness and then baseball, to make it back to college football. ONCE the NFL season winds down i wonder what i m going to write about too. i got into college football much more this season just because of b/r . it s been fun ,, and my florida predictions keep happening! lol ghost knows i ve picked them to be in the championship game, 1 or 2 games after the 1 loss. looking way back i said oklahoma/florida a good possibility. it s nice to be right! lol. 5 more days of bama fans hoping for a trip to the bcs title and that finally ends! Thank goodness. Go GATORS iVE ADOPTED YOU! LOL thomas

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Thomas, keep riding those Gators....but Bama won't roll over and die. It is going to be a good game. I will be watching for sure. Next time you are near the honey shop in Labelle - tip your hat for me. I'm going to see if I can order some online. The sea grape is the best!

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  12. Larry Sigurdson 7 months ago

    Hi GG,

    Great story! ***** POTD.

    So, are you taking your daily dose of Saw Palmetto for your now enlarged prostate?

    Just a gentle reminder about January to August. Don't forget about new recruit for next year and which freshman is going to make the starting line up. And which of this year's high school graduating class is going to sign with which BCS university. Then there are the coaches. Who's going to replace Ty Willingham at Washington. Is Chip Kelly, Oregon's genius O.C., going to take the job at Syracuse? Will Michigan get another new HC?

    And what spring practice. Will the 2009-2009 Bowl Champions make changes to their play books?

    Then of course there's the BCS itself. Are we any closer to a playoff? Should it be an eight team playoff or would it be better to go to 16 teams and be closer to March Madness in college basketball?

    Oh so much to write about and so little time.

    Thanks GG, you just have a wonderful way with words.

    --Larry

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Thanks Larry, I appreciate the comment and the pick! You are right - there is much to look forward to in the off-season! The coaching changes are going to be fun to follow!

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  13. Ray Bogusz 7 months ago

    Silly Deano! After the bowl games come months of speculation over recruiting classes, if the BCS got the champion correct, and projections for next season!

    And for the record, your kidneys aren't stretched, but your bladder is. (as is mine)

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Ray, you are right - just like footballs, we fans have bladders too! I am stoked about our new guys signing on at Georgia, but also hoping that Stafford and Moreno stay with us. We have unfinished business!

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  14. Isaac Luber 7 months ago

    After the NC, I will continue writing. You can always argue about preseason rankings, recruits, which teams will be good next year, etc. On January 8th, it should be Penn State taking the crown, but one game where we came unprepared (both for the game and the weather, since we didn't bring heaters, which caused our players to drop a lot of passes), we fell to a very good Iowa team by one point. If we played even a little bit decent in that game, we would have won. But we didn't. Now we have to realize another team as National Champions, although we would probably beat whoever they are because we were upset, and will most likely miss out on the chance to be Champions, and college football will miss out on the best team in the Nation winning the Championship. All because we choked it away. If it was last year we still would have been in, since it was a one-loss team vs. a two-loss team in the NC, and we would be that one loss team. But I digress...

    Anyway, great article. You can also argue about a playoff, since PSU missed out on the NC this year, in the off-season.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Isaac my buddy! You boys are going to have the nation watching you in your bowl game. I can't wait for that one! The off-season will be fun to watch the coaching changes and the recruiting classes. I'll be here!

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    • Lou Vozza 7 months ago

      That's the way it goes, Isaac. PSU has to make sure they schedule at least one or two major powers OOC, because the Big 10 teams are down right now. It's too hard to go undefeated, so you need to have a team on your schedule, especially in the second half of the season, that is hopefully highly ranked. Also, the Big 10 should schedule a champ game. Every year for the last 3 years, the SEC has used that champ game as a springboard into the NC game.

      You guys had a great year. In this system, you have to be happy to win your conference. Don't forget, you need a lot of luck to make the final in a playoff too.

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    • Larry Sigurdson 7 months ago

      Hi Isaac,

      Please let me assure you that the PAC-10 thinks it is a VERY BIG DEAL to play Joe Paw's Penn State in the Rose Bowl.

      If you have any doubt please feel free to ask the first Oregon State Beaver Believer that you might encounter.

      On the BCS--there's got to be a better way. But for your losing to Iowa: hey, a winning team always finds a way to win. Not that I don't sympathize-if only Oregon had done a little better this season against USC...

      Hope to see you in the Rose Bowl next year.

      --Larry

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    • Isaac Luber 7 months ago

      Larry, how about LSU and UF. Last year, LSU lost two games and still won the NC. UF was upset once and will probably win the NC this year. Just because you are upset doesn't mean that you don't deserve the NC, especially if you are a great team like UF or PSU. Thanks for the response.

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  15. thomas moreland 7 months ago

    usc wins over penn state easy!!!!! they are licking their chops!!! didnt trojans keep lions caged up?? lol that white horse is gonna get tired racing up and down the field after touchdowns! thomas
    don t start now..,,, issac i told you florida would be there against texas or oklahoma oh ye of little faith! lol thomas

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  1. Iceman 7 months ago

    if usc beats ucla I dont see penn state standing much of a chance againt the trojans. sure usc wont put up too many points, but uscs defense will be 4 times greater than anything penn state has faced. It will be a great game, but usc will come out on top

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  2. Jared Zeidman 7 months ago

    Holding it in never gave me kidney pain, unless my kidneys were what was hurting all these years.

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  3. SportMonk 7 months ago

    Nice job, Gray. It's great to read something fresh from you, my friend.

    I feel the same way as your father did about potty breaks. It's a six-and-a-half hour drive from home in Oklahoma City to school in Lincoln, Neb., and I'm always anxious to just get where I'm going. Pity things like using the bathroom take backseat to my sheer desire to simply ARRIVE, haha.

    And THANK YOU for saying that. I was beginning to wonder what would happen when the college football "season" ends (for some like us, CFB never ends--it just waits). What would become of the community I have here on b/r? Do I need to start writing about college basketball or something? I'm glad you stepped up and challenged us to stick to the task. Though it might be tougher to eek out some articles over the off-season, college football is still first and foremost for us.

    GREAT write, Gray. ***** and POTD.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Monk, thanks for the encouragement! The off-season will test our imaginative writing skills - it will be a blast. Thanks for the pick! I've been to Oklahoma City quite a bit lately.

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    • SportMonk 7 months ago

      Really? What for? I LOVE Oklahoma City. I miss it. I can't wait for Christmas break.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      I was there speaking at a conference this past May, and I will be there probably in the middle of January.

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    • SportMonk 7 months ago

      That's awesome! Where was the conference at? Downtown? I hope you enjoyed my City. I've only been to the Atlanta airport, and I've never been to Idaho, but I've always wanted to.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      I ate at Earls Rib Shack!!! SON!!! It was so good it buckled my knees! There in Brick-town! Wow!

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    • SportMonk 7 months ago

      Oh man, Earl's is AMAZING. A personal favorite of mine. I'm glad you enjoyed Bricktown, though. That's where I spend most of my time when I'm home.

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      I'll keep in touch with you and maybe we can met up the next time I'm around. I'll by you lunch at Earl's!

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  4. Franklin Crittenden 7 months ago

    Grey Ghost, reading your story reminded me of our summer trips when we were kids. We would pile into our car and head out at 2:00 am and travel until midnight through every small town along the way. There weren't many interstate back then.

    My dad was in the military so everything was very regimented with all stops planned and timed. It was AIS or you got left behind, not really but we believed it!

    The trips were tough and we suffered, that is until we reached our destination, then we had a blast. There again it is like a football season. The weight room, and two-a-days were tough, but it was worth while when you reach your destination.

    Thanks for sharing!

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Franklin, thanks for the comment. How I remember the state roads that led us to where we were going. Do you remember the Stuckey's? All those little motels in those smallish southern towns. The interstates changed life in the rural south. Your Dad sounds a lot like mine!

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  5. Cameon Shiflett 7 months ago

    Gray,

    As always an amazing article. :) It's great to see you writing again.

    You are definitely correct in that it is always about the path you take that gets you to the destination. Just the other morning in fact I was sitting in my bed thinking "How did I get to where I am? Looking at colleges and deciding what I want to be 'when I grow up.' What happened to those years of naps and snacktime and coloring?" It's all about the journeys we take. The choices we make.

    Alabama and every other team playing this next weekend and in future bowls will have taken a particular path to get to their destination. For Alabama, they have not taken potty breaks. We have just gone straight through all the rest stops. :)

    Roll Tide,
    Bama Chick

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  6. Gray Ghost 7 months ago

    Cameon, thanks for the encouragement! I was glad to sit bacvk down and write an article here on B/R again. I love this place and the people who have become my community of friends. I can't wait for Bama and Florida to lock it up this weekend! Wouldn't miss it for the world.

    Thanks for taking time to read the article, and the comment. You're my bud for sure!

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  7. Darth Dawg 7 months ago

    Great Article Ghost. You're the reason I get on here and comment, glad to see that you're back. The articles on here haven't been the same without yours among them. Sounds like you have a great family with some awesome traditions. You're tops with me.

    5 stars & POTD

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  8. Gray Ghost 7 months ago

    Thanks Darth, Glad to be back in the saddle! Thanks for the pick and the kind words!

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  9. Micah Green 7 months ago

    Hopefully we won't have to hold it. =) Great article. POTD So Gray who are you gonna pull for? I'm assuming 'Bama.

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  10. Austin Thomas 7 months ago

    GG you continue to amaze and inspire me through your writing. This article is not only your best I have read but one of the best editorials I have ever read. 5 stars an a well deserved PoTD for this one, really great job.

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  11. Gray Ghost 7 months ago

    Thanks Austin for the very kind words and the pick. You are a real encouragement to me. Thanks for your friendship!

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  12. O'Dell Isaac II 7 months ago

    What a well thought-out analogy! I have to admit I tend to agree with your Pop. I'm not a big fan of potty breaks myself.

    Yet another great read!

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Thanks Ike! It's funny how things change when you become a Dad yourself. Pedal to the metal!! Thanks for taking the time to visit!

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  13. Ren C. 7 months ago

    Now that made laugh. ;)

    Ren

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    • Gray Ghost 7 months ago

      Thanks Ren, it going to be a good game this week in Hotlanta!!! Can't wait! Keep smiling.

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    • Ren C. 7 months ago

      Hi Gray: Yes,it is going to be a GREAT Game lol.. I was in the Altoona Christmas Parade tonight. I was ahem. "Crimson Leia" of the Star Wars Syndicate lol... Princess Leia wearing a Crimson and White Houndstooth. LOL. They had Aubie and Blazer in the Parade,but Big AL had another parade to be in. So they saw my Houndstooth hat in my truck and ask if I could wear it and in the Parade with my Leia outfit. I said sure.

      lol....

      Have a grand week Gray.

      Renda

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  14. Joseph Morgan 7 months ago

    It's great to see you writing again, GG! I completely agree with you.

    No matter what we do, it's always to important to remember the journey that got us there. Sometimes, the journey is what makes it worthwhile.

    EVen though it already won POTD, one more pick would hurt! Great job!

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  15. Jim Neveau 7 months ago

    My rule of thumb for "potty breaks": you only get them when the car needs gas. Period.

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