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March 7, 2006. How wonderful it is to wake
up in our own bed…
Whew. What a trip. I mean, literally, what a trip! Tim and I had
just returned to San Francisco after embarking on an adventure.
An adventure... yes, that was the original plan.
We started planning this vacation soon after Tim's 40th birthday in
Hawaii. Excited? Way! Beyond that, we were psyched! It was to be our
first official vacation together. Granted, Hawaii for his 40th was
nice, but this was all about us as a couple, our own vacation... just
the two of us, and it was going to be great!
We were slated to arrive into Fort Lauderdale, spend 3 days there,
then board a Carnival cruise ship with ports of call in Panama,
Costa Rica and Belize. After those 7 days, the next step on our
self-made itinerary was to spend 3 days in Miami. The next stop was
4 days in Orlando to see my friend Erika, then back to Fort
Lauderdale to fly back to Oakland. Upon arrival in Oakland, we were
to pick up our cars from my cousins’ in Daly City, then back to Home
Sweet Home. Easy enough, right? Shouldn't be at all complicated. We were, after all, organized. The trip was well-planned.
Paradise, here we come.
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 1 am. Tired, we hailed a cab, and
the driver promptly took us … to the wrong hotel. Was I supposed to
know that there were two Sheratons on the beach? When they checked
us in and upgraded us to a poolside suite, I was pleased. That is,
of course, until I realized why. The banging from the next door
renovation started at 7 am (translate: 4 am San Francisco time.)
Thank you, Orbitz!
And the cruise? A lost luggage scare, where we found the bags in the
lobby, and dragged them to the room, porter-free. Then, they booked
us on the wrong shore excursion for Panama. So our grand tour of the
Panama Canal?
 It was, Voila!.....by train. Not
quite the way we envisioned it.
During the cruise was my birthday, also
the same day as our first anniversary. At dinner that night, Tim
showed up, empty handed. No roses. No gift.
But I always get roses! (stomp, stomp)
I was bummed. His excuse? Well, it was his first cruise and he
didn't know they sold roses on ships. Hello? It didn’t occur to him
to ask. There were only, say, 3,000 crew on the ship. Betcha one
would've known where the Flower Shop was. I think on the ship's map,
it even said "F-L-O-W-E-R --- S-H-O-P" But, never! Men never ask for
directions. To his credit, he did give me presents while still in
San Francisco, a week before. Ipod speakers and pants that didn't
fit. Such a guy. Ah, I was livid about my roses. It was
a year's anniversary, for crying loud! Even a tree stump would know.
Then we kissed and made up, but, the
highlight of the cruise was yet to come. Ever heard of the cruise
ship virus? Yep, that's me, Luckie Renie Beanie. Numbers 1, 2,
3, 4. Give it a number, I had it. On Lobster Night, no less.
A highlight was South Beach … now, that was a great time! A fun
time... we even had lunch with Ben Affleck (oh, alright, alright, he
walked by while we were eating.) Life was sweet and romantic. Except
for one night we were supposed to go dancing, well, I kinda passed
out. Okay, okay. I did pass out. Blame in on the free martinis in
our hotel. Martinis Art Deco style. Happy Hour became Sleepytime.
South Beach was great.... but my last vision of Miami was being in a
bus praying for the traffic to move.
After a stint in Orlando with my friend Erika, Tim and I barely made
it back to Fort Lauderdale. We arrived by rental car that had by
this time, predictably, ran out of gas. I mean, I would have been
shocked if it hadn't. I would have been appalled had things gone
smoothly. At this point, I was surprised that a meteor hadn't yet
fallen out of the sky, hitting us both squarely on the head.
We
made it to Dallas/Fort Worth. Yes! What now? Our flight got
rerouted to San Francisco. Good for us, bad for our checked-in
luggage. Our luggage remained on the plane to Oakland. Bye-bye
luggage. See you later.
"Can we please, pretty please, just go home?" I whined. I
whined as I fought the notion to plop myself down on the floor
and cry. But this was too much to hope for. Akin to Mary Stuart,
Queen of Scots – the axe had to fall once, twice… Dull blade.
Thick neck.
But it wasn’t over yet. When we got to San Francisco, neither of us
had access to our car and apartment keys. So we couldn’t go home.
Classic.
I narrate to you, all of the above. Because, well… I'm not sure
exactly how to tell you how painful that trip was. It was
excruciating. It was like Chinese water torture.
When we finally got home and sank into bed… our own GLORIOUS bed… it
was the best feeling of all. I felt like we had journeyed around the
planet on foot. No more planes. No more ships. No more trains.
Throughout that trip, the ups and
downs, Tim, ever-faithful, ever-patient, always loving, never
faltered.
March 7,
2006...
I awoke that morning, warm, all snuggled
up to Tim: This was home. We were home. And yes, the realization,
Tim is my home. I really didn't need anything else.
Suddenly, Tim got up out of bed. "I’ll be back!" he yelled, and was
gone. I had never seen Tim in such a hurry to go to the bathroom.
Hazily, I wondered if he had gotten the remnants of my cruise ship
virus.
Then he was back in bed. Cold. (Geez, where has this boy been???)
Cold hands, cold face, cold feet! He was the male equivalent of
Eliza Doolittle.
So then, he whispers in my ear, as I’m half listening: "You know,
baby, blah blah......... I love you… blah blah blah… (meanwhile I
was thinking, "this boy is cold, and keeps talking nonsense in the
morning…") blah blah blah … and I want to spend the rest of my life
with you … blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah… Will you marry
me?"
Huh? Did he say…?
And there it was. How he proposed. My ears weren't fooling me.
Apparently Tim ran out to the car, barefoot and in shorts, through
the yelling of the downstairs neighbor ("Hey, put some clothes on!")
and retrieved the ring from the luggage which was still in the
trunk. He had carried the ring with him all throughout that painful
trip.
Then, finally, the moment was right. I was
home. He was home. We were home. We were with each other. This was
it. This was right. This is how it was meant to be. The
sweetest thing.
Of course, I said, Yes! I think I screamed Yes! I kinda
floated for days after that.
And the rest?
As they say, it's history. And my feet haven't yet touched the
ground.
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