Today, three of my best friends and I are packing up for a “roadtrip.”

I’m going to be honest…. This is my least favorite reason for a roadtrip in the history of roadtrips. You see, we’re traveling to Cape Girardeau to be with one of our other besties to celebrate the life of her (OUR) amazingly sweet Grandma Mary. If you had the pleasure of knowing Mary Bolen, you know that she would be extremely disappointed if our car ride wasn’t filled with laughter and funny stories the entire way down.

I’ve had quite a few road trips through or to Cape that involved stays at Mary & Jess’ home. Each trip was filled with stories about baseball and grandkids and family. We spent time at the casino (where I almost always was asleep hours before them) and we ate really, really good food. We laughed… a lot. And then, we slept in this room that is cold and dark like a cave and woke up to donuts. Yep, that Bolen house is a pretty special place and holds some dear memories for our little crew.

There’s just one thing that always stuck out to me and that was just how much Mary and Jess LOVE their family. If you stop for a second and think about how much they love baseball and can still wrap your mind around the fact that they love their family 10x more….well, wow. That’s just a lot of love. And if you don’t know Mary and Jess and their baseball story, you can read a little about that here: http://mosportshalloffame.com/inductees/capahas-baseball/

Or here: http://www.newschannel10.com/story/32530229/jess-and-mary-bolen-look-back-before-their-final-capahas-home-game

Or here: http://www.semoball.com/story/2456436.html

The world will miss you, Mary. We love you!!!

Brookie – I hope you and your family all know we’re here for you in the days, weeks, and months ahead. We are so lucky that we got to share so many great memories with her and your grandpa and know that she will live on in you guys forever. Visits to Cape will certainly be different, but Grandma Mary is on the best roadtrip yet!