Quality time..

My daughter and I sat in static traffic on the M2 motorway during Saturday afternoon, thwarted in our attempt to reach the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury in time to see 'Dirty Dancing'. Unfortunately, what should have taken no more than forty five minutes, instead took a bum numbing three and a half hours due to a serious road traffic accident.  The road ahead was closed by the police, so we passed time listening to music, whilst chatting about life, the universe and everything between, as mums and daughters are apt to do. We were shocked to watch as several less calm drivers bypassed the stationary traffic by slipping along the hard shoulder, seemingly unconcerned about the risk of blocking emergency vehicles.  How people can be so recklessly selfish, is totally beyond my comprehension.

My daughter, parked outside the Marlowe Theatre at last!

We eventually arrived in Canterbury, too late for the first half of the show and as Fay is diabetic and I was just plain ol' hungry, we needed to find an eatery rather urgently.  Instead of the restaurant meal we had planned, we were eternally grateful to a tiny branch of 'Subway' in Canterbury High Street, where a friendly chap served us tasty torpedo rolls, filled with spicy Italian sausage, gerkins and mayo. With only a few minutes until the show's second half, we camped out on the steps of the theatre like a pair of hobos to eat, just grateful we'd arrived safely at last, hunted down food and found a place to eat it.

As soon as we took our seats for the second half of the show, it became clear the row behind us was determined to be rowdy, but the iconic 'nobody puts Baby in the corner' finale was such great fun, it successfully drowned out their noise and we enjoyed a sparkling performance of Patrick Swayze's iconic final dance scene.

There is no doubt sometimes plans just don't work out.  Poor Fay had a nightmare train journey from her house to meet me and as the M2 was still snarled late into the evening, our journey both to and from Canterbury was dreadful, but absolutely none of that mattered because it was lovely to spend time with my daughter this weekend, simply doing our thing, in our own sweet, traffic encumbered way.  When your kids move out into their independent lives, quality time together becomes all the more precious.

NB: 

I can't help but think 'there but for the grace of God go I and my family' when I hear of a serious accident ahead on the road.  Traffic jams shouldn't be an excuse for impatience, or taking selfish chances on the road, they are a glaring reminder to all travelers that someone on the road ahead may not have been so lucky.  It's all too easy to forget what's really going on when travel plans are inconvenienced.

Take care all xxx