“Get up, Mom!” my daughter commanded.
We were nearing the end of an exhausting and iconic 14-mile hike from Crested Butte, Colorado, to Aspen, up and down the famous Maroon Bells, navigating steep terrain, rock scree and rain.
I’d slipped crossing a stream and started crying. “You are going to finish this hike with a smile on your face,” my daughter Mel said.
I couldn’t help but smile, and get up. I don’t know how many times I had said that to Mel — and her older brother and sister — when they were young and unhappy on a particular vacation outing….