Celebration

About a year and a half ago, when Trent and I knew that we would be moving to Florida before fall, I decided to give him a surprise for our upcoming anniversary. I made a reservation for dinner at his favorite Disney restaurant. The restaurant is in one of the Disney hotels, so we didn't have to pay extra to buy Park entrance tickets. He was thrilled that I was going to take him to dinner at his favorite place after we made our move. And then COVID 19 (or The Plague, as I tend to call it) blew up and many businesses across the country shut down. The entire hotel in question was closed, so we switched our reservation to a different restaurant. Naturally, since it wasn't the place we had hoped for, it proved to be a bit disappointing.

Time passed, and I kept checking to see if Disney was offering Annual Passes for sale again, and to see whether or not The Restaurant was going to reopen. We also were on the lookout to get COVID vaccinations to protect ourselves when these magic moments came to pass. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's came and went, and then Trent got sick. Without having gotten an Annual Pass or going to the Parks or going to The Restaurant, Trent was gone. 

Shortly before my sister's second trip to visit me in Florida, the company announced that The Restaurant was going to be accepting reservations in a few days. When I explained to Liz that it would be open on my anniversary, which would happen during her visit, she immediately accepted my invitation to go to dinner there with me. I stayed up all night when I knew the reservations would be opened up to make sure that I could book a dinner reservation. Imagine my surprise when I did a search on my computer for the confirmation email and found the confirmation from the year before, and saw that the reservations were within ten minutes of each other! It felt like Trent was giving his seal of approval for us going to this dinner of celebration, not sadness.

It was a lovely evening. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed seeing the geckos running around at every turn on the winding tropical path from the parking lot to the hotel. Liz, who freely admits to being a picky eater, bravely tried and enjoyed the African-themed foods. And for any of you have figured out that The Restaurant is more commonly known as Boma, I have two words for you: Zebra Domes. Actually, everything was delicious, and as an adult who has no kids and therefore can eat whatever I want and not worry about being a bad example, I will freely admit that I helped myself to several different treats from the dessert station. And ate every one of them. It sort of reminded me of being on my honeymoon years ago and deciding that since I was an adult, it was perfectly fine to eat dessert first. This time I did it at the end of the meal, but the joy and gusto were the same. 

I know that this isn't a grand and glorious story with events of mythic proportions (although I consider my dessert-eating to be a mission during which I exhibited the utmost in bravery), but I think that's okay. Having a good dinner, visiting the gift shop, and sitting in the hotel lobby to soak up the atmosphere were all great ways to celebrate the years I had with Trent, and to honor him with my happiness. I won't lie and say that I didn't feel any sense of loss or melancholy when the date was approaching, because I did. But I tried to turn it around into what I hope I can make a new tradition, going out to celebrate on our anniversary. Maybe it's an idea that you can borrow, trying to make a happy memorial out of a day that could be sad. I think that Trent would like that.

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As always, I am happy and honored to write for you. It brings me great joy, and I hope that it gives you joy and/or food for thought. If you'd like to support the cause, please visit:

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Doughnuts and Destiny

It's interesting to me that sometimes the smallest of decisions or actions can become major events. On a mid-October day two years ago, Trent and I were out running various errands when Trent told me that he would like to get a few doughnuts from the nearby Krispy Kreme. I agreed that it would be a good last stop on our list of places to go. I had sort of assumed that he would go through the drive-through, but he said that he'd rather go in and see what was available, so we headed into the garden of glazed delights.

When we walked in, I noticed a couple with two adorable little girls, and the mother was wearing a Disney Halloween t-shirt. Now, this was a happy coincidence because I was wearing my purple Hocus Pocus Halloween t-shirt. Trent said something, and we were all courteous to one another, and the little girls were entranced when they caught sight of my Pandora charm bracelet. After everyone had purchased their snacks, we walked by their table on our way out. I stopped and asked if the girls wanted to take a closer look at my bracelet. Before we knew it, we had been talking for at least twenty minutes. Disney has a way of doing that to people. 

We exchanged contact information and they said they'd love to see Hocus Pocus with us. They needed to go pick up their other children from school, and we headed home talking about what a nice young couple they were, especially to be so friendly with a couple at least twenty years older than they were. We really felt drawn to them, and decided to contact them and see if they really meant it when they said they would love to have us over. Within days, we were headed over to their house for a pizza and movie night. As we sat around eating and getting ready to watch the movie, I looked at the twins' older sister and thought, "This little girl is going to be my friend." And when I talked back to the movie and the boys repeated what I said, I knew we were all meant to be friends.

We would come over to their home and have fun with everyone of every age. On one occasion when we were all in their car going to the local shopping center (to go to the Disney store, naturally) one of the twins asked their parents if the cousins were going to stay overnight and sleep in the basement, where there was a little apartment. I thought they were talking about some relatives that were coming over, but they were actually talking about Trent and The Lunatic! Over time, the twins kept referring to us as The Cousins, so that became our title. 

We did become friends with all of the kids as well as the parents. The little girl who had sat near me during the movie did become my friend. Any time we rode in the car with them, I sat next to my Lucy, and in front of Noelle and Natalia. Lucy is the only person in my memory that I have felt comfortable with looking through my purse. It is something she started early in our relationship, and I often got in the car and handed my purse directly to her. Everyone knew that if needed, Katrina could be counted on to have mints and at least one band-aid. Lucy almost always remembered that she was in need of a bandage when she looked through my bag, and I shared them with joy.

When The Plague, as The Lunatic calls it, fully knowing the difference, hit, Trent and I knew it would cause problems with our upcoming move. Imagine our pleasure and surprise when we were offered the chance to live in the basement apartment for a couple of months until the world got slightly closer to normal. What a relief it was to know that we had a place to stay, and a family to mingle with! I was reminiscing just today about how helpful the boys were. If we were moving something from our old apartment to our temporary one, Gabe and Eli were right there to help carry things in and down the stairs. The same with groceries or other shopping. I remember one occasion when four-year-old Noelle helped with the toting of the groceries. She slung a bag that contained a two liter bottle over her shoulder and walked in front of me toward the house. When I asked if she needed help, she gave me a confident but polite no, thank you.

We had lived with the family for a while when we learned that from the very first day that we met them in the Krispy Kreme, the twins had begun calling us The Cousins. From the very start, they decided that we were a part of their family. This ended up feeling true. We've been through a lot together, learning to know one another, moving apart, and even loss. When the twins said that they wished they could give us hugs, I got on the internet and ordered them matching pillows. On one side, Trent was sitting with Natalia on his birthday, and the other side was me with Noelle (and Trent) on my birthday. The twins can now hug us any time they want. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to ring the doorbell and surprise them all with a hug in person.

We do all sorts of things at all sorts of times. Sometimes they're routine, sometimes eventful. And sometimes destiny shows up disguised by a doughnut. May all your surprises be sweet.

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The Tip Jar:

As always, I am happy and honored to write for you. It brings me great joy, and I hope that it gives you joy and/or food for thought. If you'd like to support the cause, please visit:

https://www.paypal.me/TheLunatic