Bringing Back the Age of Wonder

Visiting Disney World in Orlando was way down in the bottom of my to-do list in my family’s five day visit to Florida. 

Unlike my 9-year old niece, who had her heart set in meeting as many Disney Princesses, mine was set on catching up with cousins and family.  Of course age is a factor in the difference of priorities.  I felt I was pass being enthralled by make-believe characters and could do without the adrenaline rush or heart attack I could get from a roller coaster ride.

In the course of the five-day visit, I found myself being captivated by non-Disney characters (besides my relatives) in easy-to-find locations. And the best part was: there was little or no need to pay for tickets to have close encounters with them.

Friendship Across the Miles Series: It’s Yesterday Once More

“All my best memories

Come back clearly to me
Some can even make me cry
Just like before
It's yesterday once more”  by the Carpenters

“Remember me? “, was the first line to a message I posted and sent off to a classmate who I found via FB.  She immediately responded the next day.  And we soon were sending off messages back and forth to each other.

The FB encounter is now a little over four years old.  Before FB, my contact with P was via slow mail probably more than 20 years ago before I lose touch with P again.  My lame excuse “life got in the way”.

Friendship Across the Miles Series: Best Friends in Florida (BFF)

My nephew, P, had finally found work in Orlando, Florida.   It had been an emotional parting for my sister, G, and her husband.  Their only child was off to conquer the world on his own.  But as fate would have it, he was not totally alone.  A very close cousin, C, had graciously taken P into her wings. 

And when a couple of months passed, my sister, G, decided to take a vacation and visit her son.  Not to let the opportunity pass, the rest of us felt we needed to visit as well.  Besides, it was finally time to accept my cousin’s long standing invitation to visit.

After five hours of air travel, our party of seven (my mom, my niece, brother-in-law and sisters: G, J, M plus me) had finally arrived at the Orlando airport.  My brother and his wife would follow two days after.  That’s how much we take family visits seriously. 

To most travelers, Orlando means a visit to the happiest place on earth: Disney World.  To my sister, it was a chance to be with a sorely missed son.  And to our group, it meant a grand reunion among cousins who were a part of our very happy childhood.