Saying Goodbye
The end of a vacation is always a bummer, and yet necessary for our continued well being. If you've ever been on a vacation that has gone too long (and we all have) then you know exactly what I mean. Eventually the body, mind, and spirit begin to atrophy from constant pampering and need to be tempered again with hard work. I could probably get used to this life, but I wouldn't be half of what I am now if I did.
I was awakened this morning by the familiar tune of When The Saints Go Marching In on my cell phone. I was still groggy when I opened the phone and saw that the call came from the 707 area code and I was trying to figure out who the heck I knew in the 707 area code, or for that matter, where the 707 area code was located. Then I remembered that 707 was local and I immediately answered the phone.
"Hello?" I said, eagerly.
"Hello, Will," answered Celeste. "Did I wake you?"
"No, I was just about to go out for breakfast," I lied.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go to church with me this morning," she asked.
"Church?" My Mom and brother were giving me strange looks, "I'm leaving this afternoon."
"I'll have you back by lunch," she said.
So, to make a long story short, my morning was spent in a local church in the Orlando area (Baptist, naturally) and I got to meet all of Celeste's friends and Pastor and church ladies and they were all very happy to meet me. Afterwards, as we were driving back, I couldn't help but smiling.
"What?" she asked.
"I feel like I've passed some sort of test," I replied.
She didn't say anything, but she gave me a secret smile. We reached the hotel and went for a walk in the woods and... well, none of your business... and then it became time for me to grab my stuff and get the heck out of Dodge. We kissed goodbye one last time and promised to stay in touch and then... we said goodbye.
Goodbyes are hard. We know in our hearts we will see someone or something again, but we feel as if everything will be different when we do - and of course, it will be. Nobody and no thing stands still. I watched Celeste get into her car and drive away and I had the urge to chuck it all and run after her, but this is real life and not a Hollywood movie.
We gathered together as a family once more and carried our bags down into the lobby and checked them with the porter and then we went to a nice leisurely lunch one last time at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. The kids had fun running around and eating and we adults tried to absorb as much last second ambience to last us another four years until the next trip. But all too soon, our van arrived and we said goodbye to the Wilderness Lodge one more time.
The trip to the airport was uneventful. We reached the Orlando International Airport in plenty of time, checked on to the flight and headed for the security line. I was just about to dread getting culled for a strip search when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Celeste standing there.
"You didn't come after me," she said.
"I wanted to," I replied. "But I didn't have a car."
"They have rentals."
"I don't know where you live."
"We could remedy that."
And so, since this is my blog and I can end it any way I want, my family flew home. I changed my reservation until next week and plan to spend the rest of the week getting to know Celeste a little better. And my agent called and said that they had a bid for my novel in the 7 figure range. Sure. It could happen. And its infinitely better than saying that I flew home with my family, arrived home tired and sad, and decided to write this blog quickly before I went to bed. But, alas, it wouldn't be true.
Goodbye's are also about learning to accept that you don't always get things the way you want them - but that doesn't necessarily mean its bad.
So I finish up this post here at home in San Francisco, having spent the entire flight day dreaming about what I should have done about Celeste, but having thoroughly enjoyed my time at WDW. Andy called me to tell me that the pilot deal fell through once they read the story treatment that I'd sent him. They really didn't like the title of the pilot, "The Burning Bush" - thought it was too religious. In the meantime, however, I have signed on with Ken Burns to write the narrative portions of the new Ariel researched documentary on C.S Lewis, The Early Years. I was also happy to hear from Dan that he has given up his capitalist ways and joined a Spokane area commune for computer enthusiasts. So much mail to catch up with. Thanks Sue for sending me that e-book version of the Kama Sutra to my laptop in Orlando - I won't tell you if it helped or not.
That being said, its time to get back to the serious work of my life... which now that my novel is finished, my vacation is over, and I have a girlfriend, is nothing short of...
Sorry, the last couple of words got cut off by the RSS feed. I'm not quite sure where I was going with this blog anyway. But that's it for the future. From now on, I'm firmly posting only things of current events and the recent past. Too confusing otherwise. See you all on Monday.
1 comment:
Brilliant ending.
May the reality in September be half as entertaining as these posts have been.
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