"PRICELESS"  this word will be used a lot in today's blog

So, in keeping with the "Even Though We Ain't Got Money" theme . Today Donnie and I picked Mary (our 4th child) up at Boston College (she's a nursing major there) and dropped her off at the bus, that will take her and about 75 other Boston Choral members to the airport for a one week trip to Prague.

As her parents we would have loved to financially help her out with this trip, but we are unable to.  Did Mary resent us for this, or become defeated and decide to not go?  No.  She gave up College weekends and even weeknights and babysat for the entire $2500 for the trip.

Her sister Danielle (our oldest and a B.C. alum) basically did the same for her 4 years of Boston Choral trips to Europe.  She worked any job she could to raise the money for the trips, and her memories are priceless.

We love all of our children, and unfortunately for them, we didn't always make the smartest financial decisions. But "some of our decisions" were priceless.

When they were little, we would take them on vacations to Disney World by car, and we would somehow manage to rob Peter to pay Paul, so that we could take a family vacation. We should have been saving the money, but Donnie worked so hard and we will never regret the 24 hours straight through car trips to Disney....those trips are where our children learned every lyric to so many Broadway Shows, and they could sing any Disney Movie song ever written. Music like love filled our hearts with such joy, and hearing our children sing in the car during those trips, is what makes those "some of our decisions" priceless.

So even though we didn't have money....our children learned a love of music on those trips to Disney, and this trip to Prague  for Mary will be filled with music, like so many of our family trips have been....the memories she makes, will be priceless.

** On a side note, if you are wondering how we send our children to Boston College (Danielle- class of 2006, Michael - one year at B.C. and one year at UMASS, Ryan - class of 2010, Mary Rose - class of 2014, and Jane - to be determined, possibly Providence College for class of 2016) especially under the title of "Even Though We Ain't Got Money"....  We gave them what we could financially, but all of them worked to help pay for their educations, and have very large loans. Jane our youngest will follow in the same path of having to work and take out loans next year.  Had they all gone to State schools, their educations would have been easier to pay for, but these are the colleges they chose, and out of love we gave them as much financially as we could, and the rest was up to them.   We are truly blessed to have such grateful and loving children, who appreciate all that we are able to give them. My family is my greatest wealth, and the love I feel for their father is like the theme above "priceless"  Even though we ain't got money..........




Have a safe trip our little Mary Rose....you earned it!