If I Had Known I Would Have Bought Better Luggage

Her life has been a true unexpected journey. Merriweather never searched for adventure, but it always found her. She and her husband – along with children, dogs, cats, and horses – have lived all over the United States and Germany and have added several Texas cities to their travel itinerary. The young bride who imagined life in a forever home has met the adventures and challenges of moving with resilience, patience, and a rollicking sense of humor.
Merriweather Cline grew up in a small Texas town, wrapped in the cocoon of a tight-knit community with strong family ties. She attended church with many of her friends and their families. Every parent in town watched out for every child, and every child in town knew they were responsible to every parent. She graduated from high school with kids she had known since second grade. Merriweather’s dream of a forever home, like the one she had as a child, had been woven into the very fibers of her being.
During her junior year of college, she thought her long-term dream of stability would be fulfilled. She would have that forever home and a family, because her knight in shining armor rode into her life.
As their romance began to bloom, he took her home to meet his parents. They had lived in the same home since he was a small boy and he planned to follow in his father’s footsteps as a doctor. He was applying to medical schools when they met, and Merriweather knew that if they married, he would have years of schooling and training which would require moves. She was willing to be inconvenienced with impermanence in the short run to have permanence in the long run.
One weekend she flew to see him. As Merriweather stood at the baggage carrousel with her three pieces of matching luggage, her love walked up and wrapped her in his strong arms. Being a true gentleman, he reached for her bags. “Wow! Matching luggage! You must love to travel!” Years later he would learn Merriweather simply preferred to coordinate her items.
Over the years and through numerous moves many people have asked her, if she had known the roads she would travel, would she still have married him? Merriweather’s answer is always the same…
“Yes. I just wish I’d bought better luggage.”