July 28, 2007 - "Rome-ancing the Mouse Cruisers" -11 days! Part 2

[MrsG]

I am hoping everyone is doing okay this evening. The weather here in Washington is wonderful!!

I am feeling sad tonight.....I am hoping I cheer up some......

Hope this makes you smile!

I am sure they will have a lot of these issues ironed out before our cruise. As with anything new, you don't know what the kinks are until they arise. Knowing that many Disney top execs we on board, I'm sure the issues will be solved soon. They can also pick up fresh provisions at each port so I'm sure the food will be top knotch.

Well, we can hope things will improve; however, our last Disney Cruise left a lot to be desired in the food department. If it had been our first Disney Cruise, I would have been very disappointed. Every night there was some sort of steak selection on the menu and that was the only thing that saved the day! It was not a good menu and that was March, 2006. Palo was excellent as always, but that is only one night![/QUOTE]

Now that I'm thinking about it, the food on our last DCL was not as good as the 7 day Western. We figured it was because it was the 4 day Wonder. Although in all honesty, it really wasn't that bad, just not great

 

[Sandaneli]

Thank you to those who were so encouraging when I was down. There really isn't anything you can say to the parents and family. We will just continue to pray for them in the weeks and months ahead. The funeral was very crowded with hundreds of students. There is something haunting about a teenager singing "Amazing Grace" at her friends funeral, and two 16 year old girls giving a eulogy for thier friend since elementary school, or the 6 teenage boys being pall bearers for her casket. There are not words to describe the grief. Tonight my son is doing better, after the funeral he spent the day with his group of friends which included the younger sister of the girl who died. They were a comfort to her and to each other. It's hard to watch your children go through this and know there is nothing you can do. It was easier when they were little and we could fix everything or at least they thought we could.

Again, thank you.

Sandra

As for the cruise. I was able to read some of the blogs and was not greatly cheered up. Does anyone know if the weather they are experiencing is typical for this time of year or do I have to rethink my packing. I wasn't planning on packing heavy clothes for cool weather.

Is there any explanation for the poor food and service that anyone can think of. I'm praying that the blogs will be more positive as the summer goes on and the staff is more experienced.

On a brighter note the weather here was beautiful today.

 

[danfromca]

As for the cruise. I was able to read some of the blogs and was not greatly cheered up. Does anyone know if the weather they are experiencing is typical for this time of year or do I have to rethink my packing. I wasn't planning on packing heavy clothes for cool weather.

Is there any explanation for the poor food and service that anyone can think of. I'm praying that the blogs will be more positive as the summer goes on and the staff is more experienced.

On a brighter note the weather here was beautiful today.

Weather in the Western Med for late July should run at least 10 degrees F warmer than now. Expect low/mid 80's (F) during the day, Mid/high 60's (F) at night.

Rainfall is possible, but it's definitely not the rainy season.

So don't judge the weather from what you're reading now - late May and late July is a huge difference. People going after us reading about our cruise are probably going to be worried about sunburn and crowded pools

As for food and service... if they really do have a lot of new staff, it's going to take a bit for them to really come up to speed. The good news is, they're going to have two months of intense experience before we board. They'll have already had to deal with pretty much every problem that we're likely to have, and the staff will have answered every question a hundred times over.

 

[jlawall]

I felt the same way about the Davidson blog, but I think you are right about them being kind- it sounds like a nightmare! I hope and pray things are straightend out for the future cruises... I do think the weather played a major roll in everything except the food-

There's nothing you can do about the weather, but, having done the Eastern Caribbean trip, those waves can get choppy!

 

[jlawall]

Curiously, this was one of my reasons for picking the 7/28 cruise. While I didn't expect them to have a bunch of new staff, one has to assume that there would be "kinks" on Disney's first cruise to the Med. I figured that by late July, they will have had time to work out most of the problems relating to the new itinerary, and because it's not the very last Med cruise, they wouldn't yet be sick and tired of it.

The part about the food and customer service is a concern though. Hopefully these were really start-up problems and not the start of a trend.

I agree, the excursion glitches will hopefully be worked out by our trip....AND THE SEAS WILL BE CALMER.........

 

[jlawall]

Thanks for posting this Joanne.

I am sure they will have a lot of these issues ironed out before our cruise. As with anything new, you don't know what the kinks are until they arise. Knowing that many Disney top execs we on board, I'm sure the issues will be solved soon. They can also pick up fresh provisions at each port so I'm sure the food will be top knotch.

I was thinking that too!!

 

[jlawall]

I am hoping everyone is doing okay this evening. The weather here in Washington is wonderful!!

I am feeling sad tonight.....I am hoping I cheer up some......

Sorry.........I have a great idea........go back to last night..........read Lynn & I engaged in a massive pirate fight................GUESS WHO WON!!!

 

[jlawall]

Thank you to those who were so encouraging when I was down. There really isn't anything you can say to the parents and family. We will just continue to pray for them in the weeks and months ahead. The funeral was very crowded with hundreds of students. There is something haunting about a teenager singing "Amazing Grace" at her friends funeral, and two 16 year old girls giving a eulogy for thier friend since elementary school, or the 6 teenage boys being pall bearers for her casket. There are not words to describe the grief. Tonight my son is doing better, after the funeral he spent the day with his group of friends which included the younger sister of the girl who died. They were a comfort to her and to each other. It's hard to watch your children go through this and know there is nothing you can do. It was easier when they were little and we could fix everything or at least they thought we could.

Again, thank you.

Sandra

As for the cruise. I was able to read some of the blogs and was not greatly cheered up. Does anyone know if the weather they are experiencing is typical for this time of year or do I have to rethink my packing. I wasn't planning on packing heavy clothes for cool weather.

Is there any explanation for the poor food and service that anyone can think of. I'm praying that the blogs will be more positive as the summer goes on and the staff is more experienced.

On a brighter note the weather here was beautiful today.

Fortunately, by the time we cruise, we can read several reports and know what kind of weather we can expect...........hopefully the Med is calmer than the Atlantic Ocean!

 

[jlawall]

Odd that we were on the same cruise and yet I had the experience of a lifetime. It was posted in our very lengthy thread that the temps might be cold, that Europe was expensive... I think the food was fine, the Cm's were super. The cruisers were great and cheery and there was a real sense of community. I didn't think most were sick in their cabins. Those with illness issues had a patch behind their ears. The excursions were so cool. I cried repeatedly the last day at the thought the cruise of a lifetime was over. "Only had lobster once?" And you need it more than once during a two week period? How about the crab, the lamb, the fine beef, the salmon, chicken wellington, etc...more than enough variety for the two weeks. I', sorry you had such a rough time. For me, the experience was nothing less than wonderful, magical, spectacular, fabulous, life changing.


Here's another post with a more favorable experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[eeyorelvr10]

I love this idea, my daughter has already started decorating ours, and she posted on the teen/tween thread for the kids to make them so they can leave notes and "goodies" for each other. I am collecting things from the dollar stores. she picked up some pretty shells at the beach yeterday- little things

Sallie - my DD has found that Claire's is a good place to get some inexpensive itms that girls would love. Occasionally you will find some stuff for guys too. But Claire's if famous for getting some 10 itms for $5 bucks sale. When you buy in bulk like that - you get stuff for as low as $0.50 cents. Works great for things like this. The problem then becomes how to get some of this stuff home.

... I'm wondering if I will actually get any work done over the coming weeks. It really is a great way to make the build up to the cruise even more exciting,

night night
Maria

Maria - imagine those of us who have over a year to cruise!

Hi,
Been reading in the Live report forums about problems with Credit Cards in Europe etc.
I think I may know what the problem with Credit Cards could be. Europe and the UK have changed to a 'Chip and Pin' system. They have little SIM chip cards in their Credit and Bank cards - it's a visable gold card in the card itself. The cards are not swiped and are inserted into the top of the card reader and the individual then types their pin into the reader. I was in the UK last year and had similar problems with my USA cards - luckly I also have UK bank accounts and cards and I was able to use my UK card.
However we later found that we could use our USA cards - just be sure to tell the checkout clerk that your card is a foreign card that does not have 'chip and pin' and needs to be swiped.
-Charmaine

Thanks Charmaine - awesome info. Thanks for sharing. Just a simple solution - and all we have to do is open our mouths. I was thinking that maybe people forgot to inform their CC companies that they were going overseas. Make sure that everyone informs any CC company they will be seeing charges. I usually call at 30 days out and again at 10 days out. I give them specific dates or range and the locations where I will be visiting. This helps any unforeseem problems also.

I don't mean to bring the board down but please give your kids a big hug tonight and tell them how much you love them. I'm so glad we have booked a cruise with the kids for next February. Making those memories just seems so much more important now.

THanks for the diversion and for listening.

Sandra

Sandra - I've discovered that sometimes that the boards are not only a fantastic diversion but sometimes subsitute for that extra TLC that one may need. Please pass on my condolences to those people - what an awful experience. I hope your son is able to accept and eventually move on - not forget - we should never forget - but be able to learn from someone's mistake and learn to appreciate life. (Gosh - does that sound right?) I don't mean anything by it - all I meant is that I hope he is ok.
Thanks for posting - we are here if you need it.

please no flashing!!!!!!

Ok - here we go again - please no "EXPOSING" (and your not related to Salliep are you? Sorry Sallie - had to open that can of worms again - didn't we?

 

[eeyorelvr10]

I once chaperoned a youth group through Europe and had to hold all the passports. The thought of losing 50 or so passports - I actually slept with them, I was so nervous....


I'm arriving the day before, and I'm worried. I'm actually more worried about my luggage missing a connection than my not getting on the cruise.


I'm usually pretty informal, not quite diamond studded jeans, but close. But on reading some of the comments, the thought of renting a tux rather than carrying a jacket is appealing, so I'm reconsidering.

Hey Dan - weren't you just saying that you didn't have any tags? LOL - what a riot and a 2 for 1 deal - not bad for still earning your ears! Well, actually, think you just earned them!

The tag fairy loves our thread!

You didn't bribe her with all your interest did you Dan?

 

[kyla]

Dan, whats the deal with the passports? I guess I must have miss something

 

[kyla]

Disneylover, I got your check!

 

[kyla]

Lanyard Status 5/22:
Still taking orders and payments.
I have the lanyard design. Once I get people's payments, I place the order.
DCL called and said they can't give permission in writing for our design, but its a case of "don't ask, don't tell", "we never had this conversation", no hassles as long as we are not selling and its for personal use.

ORDER INFORMATION:
Since this is a two color lanyard, the cost will be $2.43 per lanyard
Each lanyard comes with a badge holder which is $0.20 each
So I need a total of $2.63 for each lanyard
Add $1 for each reel. I'm thinking of ordering the black reel to go with the black lanyard. Sound Ok with everyone?????
So the total for a lanyard with reel is $3.63.

Timeline: Would like to get the lanyard order in before June 15th latest. Which means I need everyone's payment prior. Anyone else who wants to order, please post and let me know. Payment info is below.

Payment: I can take paypal payments (basic account, not the premier account) at kylarice at worldnet.att.net. If you don't have paypal, I will take a check. For the UK people who don't have paypal, just pay when you pick up your lanyards, under the table please. Please pm me for my address to send the checks to. Please include your DIS forum name with any payment, so I know who you are.
Update: Ok, on the paypal payment, some of you are sending me are OK and some are using their premier account. I have a personal account (basic) and while it does allow me to accept payments from folks with premier accounts it charges me a fee to accept plus it limits the number of payments I can accept to a total of 5 for the year. So, if you are unsure, go ahead and try sending me a payment via paypal and if it kicks back as denied, then you know that you have a premier account and I just denied it. Then you will need to send me a check. Pm me and I will give you my address.

Ok so far I have the following interest:
Kyla 9 paid
Jlawall 7 PAID FOR 7 lanyards, 2 reels
Eeyorelvr10 6 PAIDfor 6 lanyards with 6 RED reels
kidcoos3 5 PAID for 5 lanyards, 5 reels
Andrew UK 4 Barcelona
Salliep 3 PAID for 3 lanyards with 3 (2 RED reels + 1 Black reel)
Pixie DustII 4 PAIDfor 4 lanyards with 4 reels
AnnaS 5 PAIDfor 5 lanyards with 5 reels
disneymagic316 9 PAIDfor 9 lanyards with 9 reels
MrsG 2 PAID2 lanyards, 2 reels
MrsJobba1 2 Barcelona
Lovebeast 4 PAID for 4 lanyards and 3 reels
Iowazipcode 8 PAIDfor 8 lanyards and 8 reels
disneylover 5 5 PAIDfor 5 lanyards
formerCper 4 sending
10yrann 8 sending
MaryJo 3 PAID for 3 lanyards
LynnTarrant 2 Barcelona
Sandaneli 2 sending
JustJus 4 PAID for 4 lanyards and 1 reel
Aurora1959 4 PAID for 4 lanyards and 4 reels
caven 553 7 sending
danfromca 6 PAID for 6 lanyards, 6 reels
Bellelinus 4 PAID for 4 lanyards, 1 reel
DisneySpirit 2 PAID for 2 lanyards
Total: 119

# badge reels requested:
MrsJobba (2)
salliep (3)
MrsG (2)
AnnaS (5)
eeyorelvr10 (6)
lovebeast (3)
jlawall (2)
Kidcoos3 (5)
LynnTarrant (2)
justjus (1)
caven553 (4)
Aurora1959 (4)
PixieDustII (4)
disneymagic316 9
Iowazipcode (8)
Danfromca (6)
Disneymagic316 (9)
Bellelinus (1)
Total: 76

Lanyard Design Options (by formerCPer)

Design E is the Winner!

It comes with a badge holder: http://www.kennyproducts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=KPI&Product_Code=372
To add a badge reel http://www.kennyproducts.com/Mercha...en=PROD&Store_Code=KPI&Product_Code=425-blank, will be another $1 per badge reel.
I was thinking of ordering once I get everyone's payment and bringing them to Barcelona or the DIS meetup to pass out.


I posted this on the previous page, but in case you haven't seen. Some people were confused on how things attach together. Hopefully, this will clear it up:

Here is the lanyard with the badge holder (except ours will be vertical)

Here is the lanyard with badge reel (except ours will come as two pieces: a lanyard with J hook (as shown in the above pic). Each badge reels has a belt clip in back. The J hook hooks on the belt clip of the badge reel. See the little tab on the badge reel? That will snap onto the top of the badge holder. The badge holder will hold your Key to the World card. The badge reel is not heavy duty. It is a light string and is made to hold the weight of your badge holder.

Let me Know if anyone wanted red color badge reels. Otherwise, you will get a black color badge reel.

 

[donioc]

Hi ! Mary Jo, Kyla, Anna, Sallie, Maria, Julie, JoAnn, Mrs. G., and anyone else I may have missed.

Thanks for all of the kind comments from everybody.

Sallie, my daughter has already read all of the tween/teen posts and is currently creating her own e-mail message.

A big thank-you to everybody that is monitoring the tween/teen site. I reviewed what was currently was up there and was very impressed with what I saw. I feel this is a good first safe/public step for Deanna in internet posting and she is very excited to meet and participate with the others. In the past her mother and I have been very wary of giving her the opportunity to go to public sites. It may take a while before we allow her to have her own account.

JoAnn, maybe we will share the same dining rotation. We have always been big fans of second seating except for pirate night. I see all of that good food up on deck yet I am stuffed from our meal.

Mrs G. Do you teach? I currently teach animation and graphic design at the high school level.

Now I need to order our tags!

 

[donioc]

Kyla,

I would like to order 6 lanyards for our group. I will send you a paypal payment.

Thanks,

Don

 

[donioc]

Kyla,

Payment has been sent.

Thanks, Don

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I am so sorry. Last summer, my next door neighbor (who has 8 children) woke up one morning and their 16 had a seizure during the night and had passed away in his bed with 2 of his brothers in the room that he shared with him.
The dad had already left for work and works for the CIA ... his is not allowed to have a cell phone and works Top Secret. The police had to go to his Langley (CIA) and talk to him....the only way he could be told.

Well, that took several hours and I sat with Vicki (the mom) and the other kids till he got home. It may have been the worst several hours of my life. The police had told me what had happened and I found it somewhere in my heart to knock on the door....I knew she must have been all alone.

We sat and held hands and prayed for Joel's soul.....for an hour. And then we talked about what a wonderful child he had been......but when I don't know what to say to a parent, I find that reaching out for there hand (what ever the situation) and asking the parent if I can pray for the child is the most comforting. I used to say "What can I do to help" and of course the answer is almost always .."nothing". It takes bravery to do this...but no one has ever told me no. They know I am a believer.

After the VA Tech shootings, we lost two neighbors (freshman at Tech and friends of my sons) and Cho, the assailant, was also from down the street....prayers were the only thing that helped at all. Several kids told me no one has ever prayed with them before.

Ok, I will get off my soapbox.....sorry, just felt the need to share this

I'm so sorry. You gave them a wonderful gift. I have a coworker who says/writes the most beautiful prayers. I have always found strength in her prayers. She prayed for my father when he was passing away, and I've send snippets of posts from time to time asking her to pray for DISers in need. She always does.

 

[eeyorelvr10]

This is it....................

CONGRATS! And major one at that!

Greetings from the west coast,

We are going on the cruise on July 28th and would like to be join everybody for the fun. My DW and I both have met many of you (DISERS) on the Christmas and Panama cruises and I have been reading the boards for several years. I have always been impressed with how friendly everyone has been. My daughter is also very anxious to meet other DIS kids, decorate our door and participate in the fish mail.

We live sunny Southern California.

My name is Don (45)
My DW is Anna (43) I suspect she will also post!
My DD in Deanna (11)
My DS is Donnie (8)

Grandpa/Don (70+)
Grandma/Louella ( )

We are currently in 2 cat. 12 GTY rooms. We had been in cat 10 GTY but switched when the rates went down. (You guys saved us a fortune)

We have 2nd seating for dining. This will be our 5th Disney cruise.

Summer 2002 - Western Caribbean
Christmas 2004 - 10 night holiday cruise
Summer 2005 - Panama east bound
Summer 2006 - Double Dip Cruise

Looking forward to reading the posts over the next couple of months and look forward to meeting everybody.

Don and Anna

Don and Anna and Deanna and Donnie and Granpa Don (whew - a lot of DON's in the one) and Grandma Louella - Glad to see you didn't give away a lady's age there Don! I'm sure she'll appreciate that! BTW, there are several of us from SoCal - I'm in Norwalk - where are you? Someone mentioned the possibility of a mini-meet - sounds like we may have the beginnings of one possible!

Mary Jo,

I was able to glean a lot of valuable information from that first page. Many of you have put a lot of effort in helping plan the perfect cruise. Thanks for sharing! I have also been following the live reports and blogs to learn more about the ports from the people on the first Med. cruise.

Thanks for nice welcome. (Alex, I'll take disney trivia for $300 )

Don

Not only is he polite but quick too - he'll fit right in!

Yep, I spotted it. I'm not even sure what this makes me - a polygopassportomist? Is that even legal? Will hundreds of desperate tourists praying for their single passport to arrive before their cruise besiege me to try to find out how I accomplished it? Will Jason Bourne, upon regaining his memory, snicker at me and call me a rank amateur, given that he's had hundreds?

I can only wonder with trepidation what this will bring. Excuse me for a moment, someone from the Department of Homeland Insecurity is knocking on my door. Be right ba.....

Dan? Yoo-Hoo? Dan? If your back from your cell, is this how your planning on paying off your trip? You know - you could make a lot of $$ by selling them especially right now. (I'm surprised no one has approached you on this yet.

The police had told me what had happened and I found it somewhere in my heart to knock on the door....I knew she must have been all alone.

We sat and held hands and prayed for Joel's soul.....for an hour. And then we talked about what a wonderful child he had been......

Lisa - Thank God there are still people like you out there. Sometimes in this fast paced world you need God-loving people that are willing to take a chance and reach out to those that are in need. Just such a thing happened on the 11 Night Southern Caribbean for me. I got notified that my BFF died suddenly, the next day at an excursions - 'stuff' happened and I almost lost it. 1 tablemate (we were at a table of 14) who sat at the other end noticed something was wrong - she came up to me on the excursion asked what was wrong and when I spilled - she reached out and me. Thank God for that - at that time she was almost a stranger to me - she didn't know me from anyone else (I am shy in person) and yet she had the guts to reach and touch a stranger. For someone like me - that was the world! So please keep doing what you do - your soul is special and someone out there needs someone like you. P.S. - Pam and I are now good buddies - we talk almost every single day and we are cross-country from each other. Pam is DisneySweetie - we're handling the SM on the EB together. Go figure!

Well I hope we can borrow a couple if we lose ours.....

Dan: See note above about paying for your TOAL! (Trip of a Lifetime!)

just saying hello!! Thanks for all the replies on my 'what to wear' posts :

Yeah - she's hooked! to our world!

Do you guys know of anyone else going with little ones? i'd doubt many would trek from the states for such a huge trip with babies/toddlers.. but thought I'd throw it out there! Maybe that'll mean the nursery is not too hard to get in to We figured we'd do it now while we live in Sicily and the airfare is cheap! hehe

Can we join in on the door stuff? Valerie would absolutely love it. How is it organized.. you go around the during the trip putting things in doors with fish hangers? is there a certain day you do it or whenever? (and i'm assuming it's a little trinket, candy,etc. )

I's sure there will be others with small ones. There is never a shortage of little ones where the is concerned. They have to hook the next generation early in order to fund the new ships coming in 2010 amd 2011. (Darn - I can only include 25 smileys so instead - use your imagination - insert rolling on the floor laughing icon here!)

Simba was a rescue dog for us. Someone had moved away and just left him in the back yard. A neighbor had been feeding him and eventually called a Vet technician friend of ours who came and got him. We adopted him and he was a great dog! We think he must have been abused because he would often urinate on the floor when scared and liked to lay in the hallway by himself. (These are pack animals and tend to stay near each other or their humans.)

Chloe acts that way sometimes. Then the other times - she can't leave my sight or she throws herself at the door. Especially if we take Isis out w/o her. I swear - I get so when I hear of people doing things like that to poor helpless creatures. Especially these dogs (and all others too) they are tender and loving and woudn't hurt a flea and people still do this. They should be shot and quartered! I've tried to instill in my kids the fact that if you can't take care of a pet and give them their shots or medical help they need - then you shouldn't own a dog. Now, when I mention this - don't nobody go and get mad - I am in referencing my parents who make me sooooo mad - they believe that dogs are only guarddogs and sometimes treat them as such. I have stomped out of their house many a times after telling them they have no business owning a dog. Sorry - I am opinionated with them only! LOL In fact, I told them they aren't fit doggy parents! I did tell you all I love my girls didn't I?

Curiously, this was one of my reasons for picking the 7/28 cruise. While I didn't expect them to have a bunch of new staff, one has to assume that there would be "kinks" on Disney's first cruise to the Med. I figured that by late July, they will have had time to work out most of the problems relating to the new itinerary, and because it's not the very last Med cruise, they wouldn't yet be sick and tired of it.

This too was one of my reasons then after sailing the 11-nighter and doing 4 back-to-back days - that cinched it for me - I need a breather. We were dead and those were only 1/2 days!

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Thank you to those who were so encouraging when I was down. There really isn't anything you can say to the parents and family. We will just continue to pray for them in the weeks and months ahead. The funeral was very crowded with hundreds of students. There is something haunting about a teenager singing "Amazing Grace" at her friends funeral, and two 16 year old girls giving a eulogy for thier friend since elementary school, or the 6 teenage boys being pall bearers for her casket. There are not words to describe the grief. Tonight my son is doing better, after the funeral he spent the day with his group of friends which included the younger sister of the girl who died. They were a comfort to her and to each other. It's hard to watch your children go through this and know there is nothing you can do. It was easier when they were little and we could fix everything or at least they thought we could.

Again, thank you.

Sandra

A

Sandra, just had to address this issue. Last Sept - (see my note on earlier post) On our 11-Night Cruise, I was notified that my BFF from high school had died suddenly. She'd been hospitalized in August due to seizures. I last saw her before I had my gallbladder surgury on Aug 25. She called me 2 nights before I left (Sept 12th or 13th) asking me to take her to the Drs. As I hadn't packed yet, I had to beg off. We all thought she would be fine. I got notified in St. Lucia that she had been readmitted to the hosptial and that she was having trouble. I forgot to call that night. The next morning in Barbados, I was notified (and that was a horrendous effort to get the news to me) that she had passed away. There I was in the middle of the port terminal and I just got the bad news. People there must of thought that my poor DH had hit me - I melted on the spot. Anyway..

She died leaving 2 kids - 1 10 year old and an 18 month old - my godson. I was unable to get off the ship due to miscommunication at guest services. But I was able to send my 2 girls at home - 1 19 yo and 1 13 yo in my place. Our church seats well over 2000 people and that's the 1st floor. She was very young - had just turned 40 in Jan. Well to cut the story short, the church was filled to capacity and then people waiting to get in. There is no better last image than to see how many lives this one person touched! The wake was the same way. I unfortunately forgot to tell DD to speak on my behalf. The 6 pallbearers were all friends from high school and they still would hang out once a month. The bond was so tight with this group. Its amazing. I say amazing as they have now included me and say that in God's own way, Loretta - that was her name handpicked me to be there in her place. She would make light of that and sometimes we would take turns showing up when one or the other couldn't make the gatherings.

I cried for what seems like months but we have all made a conscious effort to include her husband and children and I visit her mother once a month just to check on her. She had 1 sister but her mom gave me the biggest compliment when I saw her upon returning for the first time. She said that Loretta had handpicked me as the Godparent due to the fact that she viewed me as her sister or the sister she had always wanted. She does have one - and coincidentally - we share the same birthday just 1 year apart.

So while things are hard, both the other Godparent and I have made a conscious effort to hold our group together and to help raise her sons (dad is an electrician and has lots of out of state jobs) so we make sure that we stop by Grandma's place and visit our Godson.

I have since made a time capsule box that I hope to give to him one day as he was too little to remember his mom. I hope that one day - he can come to appreciate how many lives his mom touched in such a small amount of time.

Ironic - I allowed my DD13 to stay out of school for the funeral. When I called from FL to notify them that she would not be there. I didn't get through so the next day I called to confirm. When I told the secretary the reason - she said - oh you mean that big beautiful funeral mass? There was standing room only she must of been a wonderful lady.

My answer? She was indeed a beautiful person but most of all - she was a wonderful friend. And the best BFF a girl could ever chance to meet. we should all be so lucky.

So I hope I didn't bring anyone down - I simply wanted to reiterate what Sandra said earlier - enjoy what you have and that special someone for you never know what tomorrow will bring. I am so glad for having known her and having her in my life. Your son can keep his friends in his memory and use her death in good ways - to touch other people's lives in such a wonderful way.

Ok - sorry all. Just had to write - this had been a long and emotional weekend and I thank you all for putting up with me! ixiedust:

P.S. - now you all know what a small can mean to a person. God Bless all you nurturers - the world needs more people like you!