We Should All Wish for Peachy Rolls

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a dreamer.

I think on a big scale, have visions of the universe coming together, peace on earth, and a day where no one ever goes hungry. Once more, when I get excited about something or an idea I have, I tend to go from zero to a million. I suppose that is the Pisces in me. My big dreams, however, tend to get lost in the chaos of life. The steps to getting there are more like staircases upon staircases, and I often have to switch gears and put fires out, so my big plans are usually not so “big” after all.

The other day I was in the car with Tayt. A lot of my dreams these days revolve and involve her and her art. We were in the car and I was going over the steps of what we have to do, take pictures, post her art, make reels, and the more I talked, the more excited I became at the potential of getting her talent out there, reaching her audience, making a difference in the world. 

I stopped and turned to her for a moment and said “Tayt, if you could have one thing, just one thing, but anything in the world, what would it be?” She sat for a second contemplating, and after about a minute said “Peachy Rolls”. 

“Peachy Rolls Tayt?”

“That is all that you dream of, going to Peachy Rolls?” I sat for a second mildly stunned.

Peachy Rolls for those of you who don’t live in Aiken, is a frozen yogurt place in Augusta (the next town over). We don’t have a frozen yogurt place of our own, so we drive across the border to get it (only 30 minutes, mind you).

I sat for a moment really considering that I had asked Tayt, the girl who stands just 4 feet tall, has to voice, her left side removed from cancer, 48 plus surgeries, unable to go to school like everyone else, in pain nearly all of the time, unable to keep food down most times, dreams of Peachy Rolls.

To the rest of us, wishing for frozen yogurt seems like a simplistic and naive way to ask for anything on earth that you could have. And at first, I thought of her wish as a result of limited experience, but it is anything but! The truth is...

We should all wish for Peachy Rolls…

For a long time, it has just been five girls in the house. I know that time is not endless, so just after supper usually about three to four times a week, especially during the summer, I would text the group “Peachy Rolls” And they would all jut from whatever corner of the house that they were in and we would immediately meet at the back door and pile into the car.

All of us taking our naturally assigned seating, we would head on the trip to get frozen yogurt, but it was so much more than that. The time spent in the car are some of the most cherished times I will ever have. We would all get a turn to put in our song on the playlist, singing loudly together, windows down, no arguing, no electronics, just moments of sunsets on the road.

When we got there, we’d all fill our bowls, sit in the booth at the front, and talk about our days, who did what, what the week looked like, where our next vacation would be, what our next day would bring. We’d throw our bowls away and head home with the same routine of rushing wind and tire tracks down the highway.

Taytem is special, there is absolutely no doubt about that. But what makes her most special to me is that she reminds me of what is important and I look to her daily to be my compass about what matters and what doesn’t. When I see her, see her working as hard as she does, see her trying her best to make everyone else smile, and get her “good morning Mom” and “good night Mom” every morning and evening along with many others that she reaches out to, I want to be a better version of myself.

Too often those big dreams, amazing plans, pie in the sky wishes cloud our thoughts and stop us from seeing the many blessings that are right in front of us. Don’t get me wrong, big dreams are important too, but not when they distract us from the moments and little things that make us happy, give us fulfillment, provide us joy, not when those big "dreams" rob of us of the meaning of life. For Tayt, Peachy Rolls wasn’t just about frozen yogurt (which don’t get me wrong, is delicious), it was about taking time out of our schedule to spend precious moments with one another, share our lives, fears, joys, sadness, and losses.

If she could have one thing, anything, that the world had to offer, she would choose Peachy Rolls.

My reply to her was “Tayt, that’s easy, I can take you there right now”.

I could say the same thing to you, your “Peachy Rolls” is just as attainable. When you set your sights on the things that matter most, stop looking for the grand and be grateful for the grandness of what you’ve been given, and cherish every moment, not just the ones that are planned and planned for, you would see life as Tayt does. 

We should all see life as Tayt does...

Don’t get caught up in changing the world and forget to find your Peachy Rolls.