Now I really don't care what people say!

[Amy&Dan]

Just got off the phone with a friend of mine, I had called her to sell girl scout cookies of all things and found out her 53 year old husband had died two months ago of a massive, sudden heart attack. I am in total shock, these were people we used to socialize with regularly years ago, have just lost touch a bit because we are all so "busy" and don't live so close by anymore. My heart is breaking for her. She told me that the month before he died they had taken a nice cruise and then she asked me if we still have been doing a lot of Disney trips. I told her yes, and she said keep it up, your memories will last forever. She is so right. Just before she called me I was thinking we shouldn't be doing our trip next week let alone the one in April and now I am so thankful we are going. The projects around the house can wait one more year I am thinking. For those of us addicted to Disney maybe we really do have our priorites straight! Next time some well meaning friend or family member gives me grief about going to Disneyland/World too often maybe I'll have them call my friend and ask her opinion on how to live life.

Stan, you will be missed!

Amy

 

[twinz]

I agree, at my work I travel the most and every time I take my holidays it's like where are you going now? I always tell them...I don't have kids, don't smoke, or drink and I have no real responsibilities (other then those lovely car payments, and other bills)so why not travel? I like to see as much as I can. I have got the "Why Disney again?" thing befor and I just ignor them...I think they just may be jealous that they can't do the things I do! Life is too short! Enjoy it!

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

Thanks for the post.
Im so sorry for your loss of a friend and for the wife he left behind. Perhaps your friend might be interested in joining you on one of your family's vacations?

God Bless

 

[3xthecharm]

We lost my dad over a year ago. When we were at disney, we had him all to ourselves. My most vivid memories are of our vacations. I would not give them up for anything. On a WDW trip in June, it was like spending a little time with him again.

 

[disneysteve]

We lost my dad over a year ago. When we were at disney, we had him all to ourselves. My most vivid memories are of our vacations. I would not give them up for anything. On a WDW trip in June, it was like spending a little time with him again.

I know exactly what you mean. My dad died 12 years ago and my brother died 17 years ago. I cry every time I ride Small World. It was my father's favorite ride. And my brother, who was a rather cold person who rarely showed emotion, thought Small World was neat too. So I always think of them when I'm there.

Memories will always be more valuable than stuff.

 

[katypop]

You are right, never mind what others think, if you want to go and can afford it you should go
My dh, dd and I went for the 1st time in 2000 for a "once in a lifetime" trip. We had a wonderful trip and fell in love with wdw. On the way home we planned on a return trip for 2002. Sadly, my dh got sick a year later and lost his battle with cancer before we could make that next trip. My dd and I have been back to wdw together twice since then and I have made 3 solo trips. Though our trips have been bittersweet, I can't begin to tell you how much those wonderful memories of our 1st trip to wdw together have meant to us. Life is about living and making memories.
I'm so sorry about your friend.
Kathe

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thank you for all the nice replies everyone! I love the Dis. I know what you mean about memories. My mother has cancer and now they think she might have Alzheimers too (waiting to find out about that one). We took her and my stepdad to Disneyland last month. Knowing that my kids will have those memories to last them a lifetime of being there with their grandparents was so worth the money we spent. Don't know for sure if I'll ever be able to go to Disneyland again though since I will have so many of those bittersweet memories. Katypop, disneysteve and 3xthecharm I am sorry for all of your losses but happy that Disney memories help bring back the happy times with those we love.

 

[EEyorelover22]

I lost my dad 10 years ago and the void will never be filled. My favorite park is MK...it was the only park that was there when I was there with my dad in the 80's. I still remembering riding 20,000 Leagues with him. My brother and I were in high school. We had a great trip. I still remembering him taking FOREVER And a Day to get a picture of the Mickey in flowers at the entrance. It was funny. We always made fun of him because he took so long to take pictures. When I finally made it back to WDW with my step mom and family in June of 2001, it was a touching moment for her and I. DH and I both said we will continue to visit WDW until we can't for whatever reason because no one really knows what the future holds.

 

[puritan]

December 20th, 2003, my brother was shopping in the mall when his right hand began to feel tingly. Kind of like if you were hanging your arm over the back of a chair. It got worse and worse, over the course of a couple of hours, until it began to lose feeling. He went to the hospital where he learned that he had a blood clot lodged in his hand. They did everything they could to break it up over the course of about 4 days. his hand and arm swelled to the point that they had to cut down the top and bottom of his arm to prevent him from losing his whole arm from the extreme swelling. He said that after the first day, his hand felt as if he had put it in freezing water until it was completely numb, then put it in a pot of boiling water. It hurt him so bad, that he was unable to sleep for 6 days even with a nerve block in his shoulder to try to block the pain. After 4 days, they told him that he was going to lose his hand. All of his fingertips had died, and were brown and crunchy looking. His thumb was as back as charcoal. They waited for two days to let it heal some, the purple had begun to receed some. However, when gangreen set in, they took his hand off. This was the day after Christmas of 03.

He needs to get a prosthetic, but his insurance won't pay for it because they say that it was not an accident. The prosthetic is $25,000 and about $1,800 every two years for new batteries.

He is still a perfectly capable person. He was due to finish college that Spring, but he went to to finish in August instead. And he has figured out a way to go fly fishing again. But there are some things that he will never ba able to do again.

Cherish every moment that you have, and make the most out of life. You only get one shot at it, and you never know what tomorrow will bring you.

Amy&Dan, I'm so sorry for your loss.

puritan

 

[suzannews]

Wow, I am sitting here crying as I read your stories. Sorry for all of your loses. I have money issues and I admit it. I hide it and don't spend it. I have finally realized, after years of everyone else telling me but I didn't want to listen, that you can not take it with you and its all about the memories you can create with the money. So, this summer, we are taking an awesome family vacation to NYC and DC and all points inbetween. DH and I work at Disney so we take DD all the time, we were just at the MK today for a few hours. We have some wonderful family memories of WDW. One of the most recent was at EPCOT during the F&W festival, sitting on a bench near the water at Germany, eating a pretzel while DD was watching fish and turtles in the water. The song that goes, these are the moments I thank God that I'm alive popped into my head and I think thats when I realized this is what its all about. Sorry this is long but thanks for letting me share.

 

[3xthecharm]

Don't be too hard on your self about being careful with money. It sounds to me like you have made some very special memories with your family. Many years from now, your daughter will remember that bench and the time you spent with her.

 

[Deesknee]

So sorry for everyones loses.

 

[floridagirrl2]

I am so sorry to hear of your friend's loss!

My father died of Alzheimers 2 1/2 years ago. My husband and I had been together for 16 years at that point, and my father had never remembered my husband's name during the entire 16 years. That's how long he suffered with the disease. The experience of seeing my father start losing his memory in his early 60s really had a profound effect on my priorities.(I also watched other family members turn their backs on my father, another life experience that had a profound effect on my priorities, but that's a whole 'nother story).

My PRIMARY priority is having great times and building loving memories with my DH. I don't want to wait until retirement to enoy our time together! "Stuff" has a much lower priority. We have deferred quite a bit of maintenance on our house, and we will never choose to "move up" to a bigger, more expensive house. We travel at least one weekend per month to Disney, the beach, bluegrass festivals, etc.

Yes, I think we have our priorities straight!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Suzannews: When you said you had money issues, I was expecting that you were a compulsive spender not saver! I always used to pay myself first, by investing in 401k and college funds. Then DH was out of work for 6 months so there went all that savings, every penney. Now we are starting over but we still travel. In the course of knowing he was to be laid off we bought a much cheaper house, got our car paid off etc. Still have those darn credit cards but they are shrinking. I guess the old, "you can't take it with you" really hits home with me. Now we try to balance what we save and what we do. We won't be retiring at 55 like we had hoped years ago but we are having fun and getting built back up again.

Floridagirrl2: Your story made me so sad because I know that may very well be what lies ahead with my mom. That is why we took her to Disney when we did, so she could enjoy it. Still keeping my fingers crossed she doesn't have Alzheimers though. Enjoy your priorities, you've earned it.

 

[riopooh]

My mom has been fighting melanoma and lung cancer for almost a year now. During one of her surgeries last spring, we talked about going to WDW as a family. We went every year from 1972 until my Brother started college in 79. So with my father and sister prompting, I started planning - only now, mom isn't sure if she will feel up to it. I'm being optomistic. I've already bought and paid for their air tickets (so we could all go on the same direct flight) and I've rented DVC pts so we could get great accomodations with room to spread out and relax. (Dad said he would pay originally but I ended up paying for those too.) I don't know when they are going to make up their minds. It was 27 degrees today - my feeling is that if you are going to feel lousy, feel lousy in warmer weather with your grandchildren. I know my sister and I and our families will have a great time if it is just us - but if my parents could make it, it would be so much more.

 

[eeyore0062]

I am sorry for everyones' losses. I have a friend who died of melanoma, too. It started after her 1st pregnancy... they operated, got it all, and said not to get pregnant again for at least 3 years. She got pregnant almost exactly 3 years after that, and in her 5th month, the melanoma came back. She continued the pregnancy and they did surgery, etc. They induced labor when she was a 32 weeks and she had a healthy daughter. They did the tests and found the cancer all over her body. She died before her daughter's due date. She had just turned 32.

2 friends of mine lost their home in a Christmas morning fire this past year. They lost their youngest daughter in the fire, and he is still in the hospital with 3rd and 4th degree burns on 40% of his body. His wife and oldest daughter were released 2 and 1 week ago, respectively... they suffered from severe smoke inhilation. His sister and niece died in the fire.

You just never know. Enjoy your life while you can, doing whatever it is you enjoy doing! And appreciate every hour of every day you are given... life is truly a gift!

 

[Martha7]

Just a quick comment to some of you who have family members with cancer, and are wondering if they might have Alzheimer's too, my mom passed away on the 4th of July of 2001, (was so glad she didn't live to see the attacks on 9/11). She started experiencing dementia, then had a seizure. When we took her to the ER, they did a scan and found that she had several spots of cancer on the brain, metasticized from somewhere else, probably her lungs, since she was a lifelong smoker. Her recent lung scan showed that her lungs were "clear", but the doctor said that tumors can hide behind the lung and are very difficult to see on the scan. Anyway, we thought that she was developing Alzheimer's too, and thankfully I think, the course of the illness was swift, and she only lived for three months beyond that point. The good news, is that she wasn't unhappy or frightened being in the nursing home, and even forgot that she smoked at all! I had dragged her to DL every year of my life, (we're from So Cal), and the memories are precious, even if many of them are of her sitting on a bench, having a cigarette, while we rode the rides!

 

[susy]

I feel very passionatley about this subject!!!!

Go to disney and don't feel at all guilty about the money! we only have one rule-that we don't get into debt. We save up for trips-even though our kitchen (appliances included) is 40 years old!!! We live in south FL in a nice condo that I bought 10 years ago for 37K! You can imagine how low our bills are.... I don't work and we do very well on DH's salary....

Well... I am in school getting my master's in elementary ed. and I'll be done this year. The "normal" thing seems to be that we buy a house (median price aroind here is 300K)
when I start working....

No Way!!! I am staying right here (we are planning to fix up the place). You should hear us talk about all the things we are going to do with my paycheck. We act like we've won the lottery or something-frequent trips are part of our plan. I really could not care LESS about a house (and I used to live around the corner from Barry Gibb). We have investments for our son's college, retirement, emergencies, etc. We have a ford windstar (base model) that we just paid off and ford focus (base model) with a ridiculously low payment (I grew up riding in luxury cars and don't see a difference)....

I love the SIMPLE LIFE=time with my family!

Polynesian here we come!
Poly-May 2005
Yacht Club-November 2005
AKL-Jan 2006
My new kitchen -summer 2007-will pay for in CASH!

Enjoy your trips!!!!

 

[Leota]

I learned the hard way, also, how precious life is. When my son was 8 monthes old, I was diagnosed with a terminal illness. When he was 10 monthes old, he was diagnosed also.....

I am happy to say that he is now a Healthy & Happy 16 year old!

But, knowing that things could change for us at any moment has lead us to live for every moment & never put off time together. Whether that is time at WDW or just taking the time to play a game or watch a movie together at home.

Sure, my home isn't always in tip-top shape - there might be some weeds in the garden & some dishes in the sink - But, I am always there, 100% for my family & always will be.

I am so Grateful we were able to take my Parents with us to WDW twice so far. Hopefully they will join us this April as well. The memories we have all made together are priceless.

The thing I love so much about WDW is how it gives us the time & freedom to just enjoy each other. No worries about the outside world, just time to play & make memories. I will never cut those opportunities out.

 

[katypop]

Kathe