Friday, July 22, 2011

Time in New England

It took me away.  I was spoiled and I loved every minute of it.  Unfortunately, there was simply not enough time for me to see all the people I love and wanted to visit with and I hope that they will forgive me.  It wasn't because they were less loved or less important then the people we did see.  The opportunity just never presented itself and our departure day kept shifting.  I here offer my humblest and deepest apologies and with all sincerity I assure you all that hopefully still love me, we will be together soon, un-rushed and laughing, I promise.


That being said, here is a little recap of my days in New England.  Happily, with much help from my family and much sweat as well, the dreaded elephant of a storage unit was finally emptied.  Thrown away, given away and packed away, the pieces of my life before Dennis have been dismantled and that chapter is over.  For good or ill.  


We enjoyed a family dinner at my sister's house and we were able to include Denise and David.  It makes me sad that everyone in the family can't be together.  But we had a crazy fun time, eating and laughing.  It was a belated anniversary celebration complete with a strawberry shortcake with a whipped cream frosting ending.  Perfect.  It capped off my splurging on pasta salad and bologna, kielbasa and sausage. YUM!


The next day we enjoyed Dennis' side of the family at a gathering in Newport.  Beautiful weather and food made for a memorable time.  Too fast moving though. Every moment we try to spend with people, family and friends.  But no matter how hard we tried, the days grew shorter and quicker. 






Before it seemed possible, we were packing our plastic trunks and weighing them, planning and checking and planning and then saying goodbyes.  Leaving Anna with my parents and sisters.  My heart is heavy still.  I'm sure she is over the loss of us and enjoying the extra treats and constant attention of my family.  But Dennis and I miss her every day.


Once in Boston Logan, we spent some time in line at the airport, naturally.  And once we made our way to the Delta agent with our heavily laden carts, she informed us that we were too late for our flight and then....wait for it....the next flight was canceled due to thunderstorms.  So off we went to the Hilton and after we checked in we made our way via the T to explore Boston Common and find some dinner.  We really enjoyed the cool breezy weather and the sites of one of my favorite cities.


By the next morning we flew into JFK early, around 11 AM and then waited the six hours until the flight to Nice. Now let me preface this next part since I know my sister Jen will be mocking me something fierce.  We have flown first class most of the times we have visited France.  I know very few get to do that and I am exceedingly spoiled.  Yes Yes, I know.  So it would seem that Karma had had enough of us being spoiled with champagne and ice cream sundays, with seats that fully recline into beds and being waited on hand and foot in the front of the plane.


Because


We flew steerage with the rest of the normal, average and regular 300 passengers.  And I sat in the middle, in the middle row, between Dennis and an unknown young woman who fell asleep on me.  Actually I became the meat in an airplane sandwich when both of the ends fell asleep on me.  Right now you may be thinking that there is nothing extraordinary about my tale of woe, who hasn't been stuck in the middle seat for 8 hours with people on both sides of you leaning on you, breathing on you in their sleep while you try to figure out exactly what it was you just ate in that tiny plastic container dubbed "chicken" and you listen to children cry. 


True you may be...however...have you also had a crazy woman walking through the plane and randomly sitting in whatever empty seat she comes to, when the original occupant is in the lavatory?  And when the flight attendants cannot convince her to move and the pilot and first officer must come out and try to talk her back to her seat...and she doesn't know where she is sitting, or even her name... and then, finally she walks back to the area she came from...only to resurface after an hour or two...go into the first class cabin's lavatory and emerge a few moments later without her pants on or her panites...calmly dropping her clothing on an empty seat and walking back and forth down each aisle, for all to see... When the flight attendants try to wrap her in a blanket and herd her back toward the lavatory and back into her clothes she demands to be allowed outside, for some fresh air. 


I    kid    you    not


Dennis of course slept through the entire theatrical presentation, but I enjoyed every moment, including the view as she strolled back and forth past our row.  I'm so glad she was tall and wearing a very short shirt.  And I'm glad "dinner" service had long been over.


But I must admit, after having sat in that horrible seat for 8 hours, I was ready to strip my clothes off and demand to be allowed outside.  We all have our limits of tolerance. 


So the adventure continues....