Howdy, I am back from a scrap convention weekend and it was fabulous. I decided to quit avoiding things I did with my mother for the fear of the memories and decided to start embracing those memories and enjoying the things we did together. My mom and I are avid Disney fans, we travelled to Disney 3-4 times a year. I have a second home close to Animal Kingdom so we could go and enjoy ourselves with still having the comfots of home. After my Mom's passing I decided to sell my house, but I have since decided not to. This weekend I went to Animal Kingdom on my own and really enjoyed it, don't get me wrong it would have been so much better with her, friends or family. But I just strolled around, got a fast pass for the safari and decided to ride the train out to Rafiki's Conservation station while I waited for my fast pass time. On the train ride back I met the most adorable 4 little girls, they were with their Grandmom, and other family. They just started up this conversation with me asking if I was going to my hotel, was I going on the safari, etc.. The girls were so personable and I am guessing aged between 3 and 7 or 8, they did not look like sisters but were probably the same family. It absolutely made my day, it was one of the things Mom and I loved the most about Disney is that most people can not go into Disney with out finding their "Happy Place" it reminded me of some of the things my Mom and I would always do. My Mom always carried these little plastic Disney characters and she would give them out to kids she saw (of course after asking the parents permission). I used to love when she did that the look on the kids faces was always priceless. I decided I wanted to follow in her tradition so after we got off the train I ran to the closest store and got 4 pin trading starter kits, but then of course I could not find the family (I knew it was a risk). So I decided to go on my way and hoped I would run into them again. I went to find some lunch (still waiting for my fast pass time) I remember thinking to myself "Mom help me find that family, you would have loved those little girls". I headed back to the safari to finish out my fast pass wait time (which by the way it was not very fast as you might have guessed). While I was sitting there waiting guess who walked by, the family with the 4 girls. I asked the parents if they minded if I gave the girls a little gift and they said no, I told them how much I enjoyed the train ride with the girls. It made my day more than anything else I saw at Disney, even though for the first time I got to see the Cheetah up and walking around, and a the baby white rhino decided he did not like the look of our safari truck. I then went and had dinner with my cousin who lives in Orlanda and we had a great time and great dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. I hope to meet up with her again next time I am in town.
I also thoroughly enjoyed my scrap convention and learned some great new techniques I can not wait to test out. I also made this great new kit on a canvas that I am putting my parents wedding picture on for my living room. Oh the small bruise came from running into the corner of a cement planter on my way to one of my classes, but it is a small price to pay for such a great 4 day weekend...
Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteLOVE this! What a wonderful tradition from your mom to carry on-putting a sparkle in kids' eyes and in your day. There is no better way to honor our moms than by living life to its' fullest and your best abilities. Clapclapclapclapclap! You need to share this story with other daughters-