Both Sides Now

When Clouds Get in Your Way

jen murphy parker
9 min readMay 3, 2023

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There is always a rainbow.

For months, my youngest stared at the map of Sesame Place on his ipad, manifesting a trip to this muppet mecca.

The map was a complete and ready made vision board. Full vision, no notes.

I couldn’t blame my son — the place looked bright, cheerful and inviting. Who wouldn’t want to blast off on Elmo’s Rockin’ Rockets? Or get stirred up on the Cookie Monster Mixer?

Given that my son’s 100% on his lifetime manifestation career, I knew we had to go. We planned a trip for his 13th birthday with his best friend and his mom. Two days, one night in an imagination-come-to-life place.

Quick. Easy. Fun.

Except the flight to San Diego was not quick. We aborted landing. Twice. The second time, people in first class heard the alarm bells blare as they do in the movies when land is approaching too quickly and the plot-driving crash is about to happen. Our plane pulled up as if Tom Cruise was in the cockpit, at it again, doing his own stunts, ready to test his spirit’s immortality.

As I sweated, clutched my arm rest, gasped Jesus at every dip, and generally worried about the family the two of us would be leaving behind, my youngest gazed out the window.

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jen murphy parker
jen murphy parker

Written by jen murphy parker

Jen Murphy Parker is a San Francisco-based writer exploring what exists in the middle - of parenting, of health, of life.