The drive-in movie is an event my family does every summer. The children are always super excited because they know this is a night that staying up late is the norm and gorging on candy is allowed.

Unfortunately, I have never made the trip. When people wonder how impactful PTSD can be...losing time with my family has been one of the largest negatives of dealing with PTSD. I have missed many memories with them.

However, this year I finally made the trip and created some new memories.

It took a lot of mind preparation for me to muster up the energy and courage...but I finally made the trip. It's a huge win.

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It was raining when we first arrived to the drive-in. My wfe had been keeping tabs on the rain movement and we knew we would more than likely see some rain but it would pass...and it did!

The double feature we saw was Jurassic World and Truth or Dare. The kids bought shirts earlier in the day to celebrate the occasion.

The children played in the park after the rain stopped. My wife insisted we arrive hours early to get the best parking spot and the children would be able to play in the park. The thought of waiting around for 3 hours before the movie started was not very appealing to me, but I spent the extra time with the kids in the park or took a walk to be by myself when I needed it.

My wife and I were standing in the park while watching the kids play and we overheard a conversation by three children sitting on a park bench eating slushies...

Have you ever tried the bubblegum slushie? It'll have you so wired up that you will be running around this park as fast as lighting

You have to remember...I am in the South and this kid has that southern mountain twang. I just kept thinking of poor Chip...

Which line at the snack counter do you think we ended up at with the children after the park!?

My wife's cousin joined us with her children. They arrived right before the slushie adventure. It always makes me very happy to know the kids are getting to know their cousins and spending time with their extended family.

This is all of them on the back of the truck. I only snapped two pictures and both were blurry for some reason. There was a lot of commotion around me at the time and adults were scattering like cockroaches to get out of the picture.

The movie started not long after this picture. But before the movie...We had the National Anthem of the United States.

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Did I mention there was a rainbow after the rain?

Mashayla was the first kid to hit the hay. If you'r wondering why her new hair cut is so short...That is the result of a child spraying silly string in their own hair.

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Attending the drive-in was a huge personal victory for me. There was a lot of mental preparation involved to get myself into a place to even make the 45 minuted drive to our destination. I sat in the back of the van for the trip and closed my eyes to take myself to a calm place for the drive.

We had a total of three parking spots at the drive-inn and I was able to position my chair in a location where I felt I had my angles covered. We only had 1 row of cars behind us and there weren't many vehicles in that row so I was able to get up and walk during the movie when I started feeling too confined.

I can say I slept like a baby last night. The long day coupled with managing the stress of being in a vehicle and out in public drained me. When I laid down at 1:30 this morning...It's one of the best sleeps I've had in years.

Mountain Dew Gif
All other pictures by @lexikon082

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