On June 12, 2010 my wife, Paula, changed the way I would celebrate my 50th birthday by proposing our going to Walt Disney World to celebrate. The trip was one of the best weeks of the year.
This past Saturday, just a little over a year since her "game changing" suggestion, she surprised me again. Here's how it all came about.
First of all, because of things I've heard discussed on several of the Disney podcasts lately I've been thinking a lot about how I would like to one day take a solo trip to Walt Disney World. I've paid attention to the podcasters' suggestions on websites to to go and bid for a relatively inexpensive hotel room in the Lake Buena Vista area. Also the topic of conversation on some podcasts revolved around how to enjoy yourself when on your own in "The World".
These got me thinking even more about a solo trip. I understood that given last year's trip and our plans to go on a Disney Cruise in December 2012 I really had no right to even mention it for a few years. I reasoned that not until my 55th birthday (September 2015) would I stand a chance of getting Paula "buy in" to the idea. So that's what I'd come to accept over the past couple of weeks.
Now here's what Paula was thinking. The last full week of May we went on vacation in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We spent 5 days walking, exploring and, enjoying the many tourist attractions. It was fun but rather exhausting.
That same week a few of Paula's family members (her brother, his wife, her cousin and her cousin's daughter) went on vacation to Seacrest beach in the panhandle of Florida. Several times during our time in Chattanooga Paula mentioned how she wished she'd gone to the beach with them.
On the drive both to and from vacation when we talked about future trips to Florida my wife asked "can we have a beach day?" A couple of days after we were back home She told me that next year when the family goes to the beach in Florida she wants to go with them.
Now back to this past Saturday. While Paula was working in the kitchen our conversation turned to plans to go to the beach in Florida next year. She told me that after Chattanooga she's finished with vacations "where we kill ourselves". She said how she wants to go to the beach and do nothing but relax. Then she added that she knew that I would probably go nuts if all there was to do on vacation was just sit on the beach.
She followed that point with a suggestion that caused me to think that my wife is psychic. While we were at the beach in Florida if I wanted to I could go off to Disney World for a couple of days. That's right she didn't just "buy into" a solo trip to Disney for me she introduced the idea. (cue the "Twilight Zone" music). I kissed my wife and told her she never stops amazing me. Later I put a post on Facebook stating that she makes my dreams come true before I even tell her about them.
I tried my best not to go off the deep end and start obsessively planning my trip like I did the last time my wife suggested a Disney vacation. I did find go out exactly where in Florida the family spends their vacation; Seacrest Beach. I used Google Maps to calculate the travel time and distance. It's a 6 hour drive to Orlando. After I finished finding that bit of information I decided that I needed to just take a breath and step back.
I have plenty of time, almost a year, to research and gather information, decide on the specifics and make my plans. But as it stands now if we go to the beach in Florida on vacation next May I will get the opportunity to make my solo trip to Disney World a lot sooner than I ever dreamed.
Thanks Paula, You are the Love Of My Life.
