21 Comments
User's avatar
Kara's avatar

That photo is PRICELESS! what a great read 💗 I am especially moved by the reappearance of the frozen lemonade 😘🥹🫣

Margaret Tucker's avatar

Loved this!!

am rod's avatar

I am so grateful you read it, Margaret! Thank you.

JackofSpades's avatar

Great story. Brilliantly crafted, Wonderfully woven. I laughed at the description of the “Frozen Doll” the frozen drink and your frozen moment at the end. Thank you

Casey's avatar

This is deeply moving for me as I spent ages 8-19 growing up in celebration Florida

am rod's avatar

What a place! Thank you for reading.

Deborah Young's avatar

It WAS a great read, start to finish. In college, I thought reading Zola was punishment. If only I had had a "you" to share thoughts with. Thank you.

Jesse Hilson 🌿🩸's avatar

The green beer in honor of Avatar. The parallelism with childhood trips in third-row of vans. The Zola breakdown. This was a great read!

am rod's avatar

What a compliment!! Thank you so much for taking the time to read it.

Sydney Levine's avatar

Loved this! Thanks! Got to get ready for the day now!

Caitlin Brady's avatar

I feel for you and your daughter. As a child I was constantly car sick. It went away when I learned to drive but I’m always behind the wheel and hardly ever ride. I really want to read some Zola and maybe book a trip to Florida? Idk it sounds terrifying

am rod's avatar

Do it!! We can start a cult about it.

Obsidian Blackbird.'s avatar

Great stuff. ! Is the bf, the father? Im just nosy.. and a marriage counselor…

am rod's avatar

Thank you. He’s her dad.

Kaia Preus's avatar

This had me lolling. Thanks for bringing us along.

am rod's avatar

Thank you, Kaia!

Skip Mercer's avatar

This reminds me of the Seinfeld series.

Deacon Santiago's avatar

Your writing has a sort of meandering depth that reminded me of reading Bukowski. I really enjoyed the cadence of it.

Marylouise Rudd's avatar

I’m happy to never have to return to “the happiest place on Earth” with or without small children and adult family members!

Roland Dehousse's avatar

Very sharp writing.

Margo's avatar

Where is your home state? I find Florida, and Orlando, soul sucking, tedious, and ugly. But I am from Oregon.....