Overdue and Overpacked: POR 9/23-10/1 THE EPILOGUE IS NOW UP ON PAGE 25

[ElleBelle]

Lala, I haven't posted on this thread since the very beginning of your report. After reading your epilogue, I had to post to THANK YOU. Your report has helped to bring back so many memories of our own trips- made me giggle, full-out laugh, given me the chills, and even made me cry. You have quite a way with your words. Just when I thought the report could never get any better- it did, over, and over again.
You've been my yellow today. May god bless you and your beautiful family.
Love ya, mean it! Because eventhough I don't really know you, I completely feel like I do. Thanks! -Joelle

 

[Cinerama]

You made me want to, well, you know. Thanks SO much!!

 

[Grammyof2]

"APPLAUSE"

LALA - 10 minutes - that is how long it took me to stop crying/laughing. Nothing to say. A standing ovation.

Love ya girl!!!

 

[AllNamesTaken]

That was FABULOUS!!! Standing ovation!!! Thank You!!

Just curious, are you staying at POR again next time?

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

LaLa -
I'm still crying over the grey swirling blobs.

But through those tears I want to tell you how much I enjoyed your entire report. It transported me there. It moved me deeply. It touched my soul. It was beautiful. YOU are beautiful. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself and your family.

 

[tink38]

Sniff, sniff, sniff. (No, silly, I'm not into the spices yet!)

LaLa, my friend, that was truly wonderful. I hope I'm typing okay because I cannot see through my tears. Seeing the Katrina photos brought back some unpleasant memories for me, but we both know that we are better people for having lived through it.

Hey - it gives us "Character"!

Enough about me, though. You are a very gifted writer and I loved the way you told your story. Do you have this in Word, BTW? You KNOW Vettechick is going to want to print it!

Love ya, LaLa!

*Reaching for the spices now.*

 

[HaleyB]

I agree with Zzub- La La you are a fastpass. Very fastpass. Not Epcot at all. (although I would petition to change the negative Disney adjective to something else, I offer Body Wars as a replacement.) So make that not Body Wars, at all.

La La I so enjoyed your Trip Report. I laughed more than once, I read sections out loud to my kids and Mr. Silly, I nodded my head as I read countless times, and I cried. Your writing is beautiful, so rich and detailed. I have some very clear images in my head, on your last bus ride I felt like I was there with you. And I didn't know how to turn those things off either. So I would have been no help.

We were in WDW after Katrina and Rita too. I was very unsure of what to do after Katrina struck. I thought hard about not going. I posted a lot here on the DIS about that, and some very good kind people strongly encouraged me to go. I had mixed feelings right up to the point where we went under the arch. Then everything fell away and I was in the World, the happy yellow world, and it was good. But we drove to WDW. From Austin. A week after Rita hit.

We drove through the night. It felt like we were in a war zone at times. I have never seen anything like it, and I hope I never see it again. I found a renewed sense of awe at the power of Mother Nature. The devastation, as you well know, is beyond words. I cried a number of times on that drive. Inside quiet tears because I didn't want the kids to know. They could not understand what we were seeing.

I was at the wheel as the sun came up that morning. We were just approaching Mississippi. I think it has to do with where the freeway goes through, and we had to by pass NOLA of course so we didn't see that, but the damage in Mississippi was the worst we saw. And my heart went out to you and everyone there, although I did not know you yet or anyone else from Mississippi. When I came back home from that trip I spent a great deal of effort telling people to remember Mississippi, and how hard they were hit, because I felt there was so much attention on NOLA and so little on other areas, and I worried for the people of Mississippi.

I am so glad your daughter found her yellow again. Thank you for all the yellow you shared with us here.

Maelstrom

LY/MI

 

[ukwildcat]

Bravo. Nothing else needs to be said. Bravo.

 

[horsegirl]

Dearest sweet Lala-

What an ending my friend! If every child had a parent like you I sure would need a different career, and would gladly find one. How beautifully your daughter's artwork symbolized her own struggles to cope with the overwhelming. I have a strong sense that the trip to Disney was only a small part of why her gray blobs have bloomed into technicolor again. YOU!

And La la de my lalala, I didn't even know you when you started this story. Lucky me, you did! I get to have you as one of my buddies!

Can't wait for your next trippie, Lala, and in the meantime, see you on the other side, you know over there, at that place.

Oh wait, just one more thing....

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{SLAP}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{SLURP}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{SLAP}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

For you baby, cause it is what we do.

 

[mkjmom]

Thank you for sharing - what a GREAT trip report. I read each new installment and loved it.

We were at WDW last year and when we got home DH said he wanted to take trips to other places before we went back to WDW. I convinced him a Disney Cruise was different, so we booked that for 2007, but then when the free dining came up I couldn't resist. I went ahead and booked it, then told him, he wasn't happy. A week later a very close friend was diagnosed with cancer and DH said we should go to WDW because you never know... so, we're going in Sept. We're booked at Pop Century right now, but I'm thinking I may switch to POFQ, it sounds great and DH isn't "sold" on a value, we'll see... I'm thinking it's just a bed and DD8, DS7 won't care as long as it's Disney.

btw... the ring tone I have on my cell phone is "When You Wish Upon a Star"

 

[2infinity&B-ond]

LaLa...wow...that was unbelievable....others have said what I was feeling better than I ever could...Thank you for taking us along with you on your vacation...just remember to save some room for us on your next trip!

 

[Chapter 11]

Wow. You weren't kidding about that rabbit hole, were you Alice? I wish I had words to capture the feelings I had while reading your Epilogue. I think, perhaps, I will be haunted for some time by the juxtaposition of the pictures you chose to illustrate the utter discordance of your journey from the Happiest Place on Earth to the Not So Very Happy Place (at least, back then). But haunted in a good way, I think. If nothing else, your story illustrates to perfection the resilience of the human spirit and the ability of even a 5-year old to absorb the lesson that even bad things can be put to one side if one remembers the good things. Yellow indeed.

So, I reiterate all that I said, and then some, in my last post on this TR. I meant every word then, and those words ring even more true now. I'll leave you with one further thought, and I think it appropriate to leave Mr. Miyagi in peace right now, and turn to one of my other favorite movies, of a slightly more recent vintage. If you've ever seen Babe, then you'll understand this sentiment: to paraphrase Farmer Hoggett -- that'll do LaLa, that'll do.

Carpe carp -- seize the fish.

 

[paslea_pooh]

So for that one week, we stopped and smelled the roses. And their scent was intoxicating.

LaLa, up until this point I was sniffling, after that last sentence, I did the ugly cry!! That was paralyzing.

And as I sit here and smile and recall our time together on our family vacation, I know that God has truly blessed us beyond all comprehension.

Everything is a blessing. The fact that we are all together is a blessing. The fact that we are all healthy and alive is a blessing. The fact that we have a home is a blessing. The fact that we had the means to take a much needed family vacation is a blessing.

We take nothing for granted now and we cling to the treasured family memories we made on that trip and many others like it.

We know that time has a way of moving on and before we blink our eyes, our daughter won’t be five years old anymore and our son will be driving. Right now, in this moment, my husband and I understand that we are still the most important people in our children’s lives. But we also understand that before long, teenage angst will probably take over and our children will want to spend less and less time with us. My husband and I don’t want those days to come and if I know us, we will put up the good fight when they do.

It does go quickly. Our oldest is 18 and our youngest is 5. I don't know where the time went. They do go through that teenage angst. But love them unconditionally and they come out of it. Our 18 year old is an awesome kid and when I look at her I still see the little girl who refused to wear pants and would only wear dresses and hated getting her hair brushed. Those days will come, but from what I can see, you guys will sail thru those dark times.

I turn around in my seat and take a picture, trying to make it last longer.

Doing the ugly, snotty, can't breathe cry!!!

I sit turned around in my seat and hold those Disneyworld arches in my gaze until I can no longer see them. I am pleased to announce that shortly after our trip, our daughter began drawing feverishly again. And this time, her drawings were back to normal. The pictures once again depicted sunny skies, green trees and happy, smiling families. She had even picked up two more symbols of happiness, Mickey and Minnie.

Did ya get that?

Yeah, we got it. Yellow is such a fastpass!!!! Looks like you guys helped your children heal, in the best possible way, in the best possible place.

LaLa you rock!!!

Thank you for taking me with you on this journey.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

What they all said above, can't improve on it.
LaLa, you are a Fastpass

ODG

 

[mercydisney]

Thank you so much for sharing your memories. I'm glad to know your going back.

 

[skent10]

Lala--

Absolutely beautiful, and I can't add anymore effusive praise than what has already been said.

I will tell you this--I'm typing this reply on the kids' computer, as the keyboard on my computer isn't working at the moment. I honestly believe I've shorted it out with the tears I shed while reading your last installment. I'll have to see if it starts working again when it dries.

You are definitely THE YELLOW FASTPASS of the TR Board.

Thanks again for a great trip!

 

[kathymc]

Well done - thank you for sharing your memories and your family with us

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Lala, you are such a talented writer. I was crying by the time I got through the third paragraph. I just got back from the World, and reading your trip report has just made me realize how much magic even just a weekend there can hold. You and your family are in my prayers, and I hope that your next trip will be just as magical as this one was. Good luck on your Dole whip.

 

[TurnR@TheMouseHouse]

La La,

I had to read you trip from beginning to end before I could muster up a word to say.

Now I can say, What a great read this has been for me. Your sentiments were truly moving to me and having gone through the 2004 hurricanes in FL I know the power of the Mouse House to give you back some happiness.

Your reference to yellow was so right on! I have had two 3 day stays at the World since I started reading your report and I have to tell you it is still very, very yellow. Your final words inspired me to seek out my little book entitled "Hailstones and Halibut Bones", by Mary O'Neill and Illustrated by John Wallner (no affiliation) and re-read the pages on "Yellow" and there it was in the last line of the poem. "Yellow is the color of Happiness".

Happy planning!!!

 

[ruthie]

Lala, have never posted on here before, but have enjoyed every second of you vacation with you! This was a wonderful trip report and I laughed and cried along with everyone else!! Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with all of us! So sorry you have finished now but looking forward to your next report and hearing all about your dole whip and more yellow!!