Celebration of Life-AKA-Remembering the Goof of our family.....

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so this might not be the happiest Pre-Trip report ever written, but I feel that it needs to be written.

As for the 4 W's, here goes nothing.

What: Celebration of Life

When: September 18-26ish 2017 Date is subject to change

Where: Pop Century most likely, but also subject to change

Why: To celebrate my birthday and remember the best father and husband a family could ever have.

And now for the Who.

There will be 2 members of our family going on this trip. Chris and myself. We might or might not be joined by his best friend Jordan. That is subject to change depending on certain factors.

Okay, so long story short, we lost one of the central members of our family on the 2nd of this month. We were married for over 20 years and he loved Disney as much as, if not more than me. We had been talking about going back to Disney next year for my birthday. I was genuinely excited about going.

However, that all changed on the morning of May 2nd. My husband suffered a major heart attack and unfortunately passed away. I still don't want to go, but my son is adamant about still going. He wants to save up the money and pay for the trip himself. I told him that we didn't have to go, but Chris is insisting on this trip. Telling me that it would be a way for us both to remember him.

He reminded me that he wouldn't want us to stop doing the things we all enjoyed doing as a family. So, despite my reservations, I decided that we could do it. I am still agreeing half hearted at best. I'm hoping that it changes with the coming months, but I know that I will miss him every day we spend at Disney. I know that I will cry there. That's a given.

So, we are planning on doing Disney for 6 days and Universal for 2. Give or take and that's subject to change....

 

[2buzzboys]

So sorry for your loss. Though it may be the hardest thing you have to do, you will be honoring your sons wishes, who is finding his own way to help him grieve and get by, but you will also be doing what you said - celebrating his life. Go and enjoy because you need to continue to cherish what you still have.

 

[CatNipRules]

So sorry for your loss. Though it may be the hardest thing you have to do, you will be honoring your sons wishes, who is finding his own way to help him grieve and get by, but you will also be doing what you said - celebrating his life. Go and enjoy because you need to continue to cherish what you still have.

Thank you so much. It's going to be hard and I know that I will cry, but they will be good tears.

 

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so I guess I should introduce the parties that are going on our little trip.

First there is me. I have had a love of Disney from an early age.

Yes, I had pink hair when this one was taken.That is my niece and I'm still trying to convince my sister that a trip to Disney would be the most awesome thing in the world. LOL!! She's not nearly as much of a Disney fan as I am so convincing her has been tough.

Next, we have my son Chris.



He is 19 and he loves Disney almost as much as me. In fact, he's the reason that we are going to go on this trip.

When my husband passed away, I was convinced that I was never going to go to Disney again. However, he reminded me that Mike would want me to go to the places where we were happiest. We went to Disney all the time when we lived in Florida. So, I've decided that we are going to go.

Then we have Jordan. He is also 19. No picture right now. He's Chris' best friend and like a second child to me. This will be the first time that we've brought one of Chris' friends with us. I'm hoping he can keep up with our wild touring style.

So, we've decided to go. We will be driving. Mostly because I don't like flying. For a variety of reasons. Mostly because I love water globes and can't bring home nearly enough of them if we fly.

 

[Ndusmama]

You are going to have one of those happy sad great times. Your son probably needs to go to grieve in his own way, and really it will help you out too. If I can make a suggestion.... Put a tiny pic in your wallet when you go then your husband can be with you on the rides. And eat once at his favorite restaurant.

 

[CatNipRules]

You are going to have one of those happy sad great times. Your son probably needs to go to grieve in his own way, and really it will help you out too. If I can make a suggestion.... Put a tiny pic in your wallet when you go then your husband can be with you on the rides. And eat once at his favorite restaurant.

I carry his drivers license with me everywhere I go. So, it will come with us when we go to Disney.

 

[CatNipRules]

So, I'm getting more and more excited the closer that it gets to the trip. We have 9 park days planned. 7 Disney days and 2 Universal days. Although, it might change because now that Chris is older he's more into the thrill rides. We will see as it gets closer.

So, here's a favorite picture of mine. Chris was a LOT younger then, but he's always loved Disney. LOL!!

So, we've been talking about where we are want to eat. My number one place has always been The Garden Grill. Our first family sit down dinner was there way back when Chris was 3. So, it's kind of a tradition that we eat there every trip.



Chris doesn't really care where we eat. As long as there is pizza, chicken fingers or pasta on the menu he's good. He's not much for venturing out for new things. He definitely gets that from his dad. I will eat pretty much anything and everything. Especially at Disney. I mean, there's just soooo much good food there. LOL!!

We ate at Ohana's on our last trip and I have to say that I wasn't impressed. The only good thing about it was our seats for the fireworks were amazing. The steak and chicken were VERY overcooked and dry.

The Crystal Palace is another must. I LOVE Eeyore and he's my number one must see character.



Chris definitely did not like either of them. LOL!!



Does anyone else miss that show??? Sure, I like Soarin, but that was a classic and I miss it....

I love all of those pictures and seeing them again brings me a little bit closer to him. Remembering all of the awesome family times that we had a Disney together. It makes it a little more....

 

[CatNipRules]

Okay, so this isn't so much an update about the trip as it is a picture post.

I love tattoos. I had 4. I say had, because on Monday I went and got 2 more. Of course they were both Disney tattoos.

So, here they are. The first one is a tribute to my wonderful husband. Gone too soon and will never be forgotten.



And then this one is a Disney Dreamcatcher. My best friend should it to me and I knew I had to get it.



Went to the doctor and he put me on some new medication. I have Fibromyalgia and he felt that he needed to put me on a different medication. Hopefully it will work because I'm in incredible pain all the time.