It's that time of year, when my thoughts turn to......Disney. It's Princess Half Marathon time. Many of my friends roll their eyes. Some cannot understand my passion for Disney (Like my new office rug? Can you see Minnie Mouse? Wait until you see my finished Disney wall!). What could I possibly find to do every year? Why would I want to go back there all the time? Don't I ever want to go anywhere else?
Just to clarify for all of you doubters, I have travelled extensively and will do more. It's not that I don't want to see other things in the world. I like Disney. Every year that we go to Disney, every time I drive through the archway, my trip is different. I haven't had the same trip twice yet. But that's not really what you want to know. What you want to know is why I keep going back. I will answer you, but it might seem a bit round about.
When Disney first opened, my father was not a fan. He went once and called it the best two trips of his life - the first and the last. I went a couple of times as a child (I did live in Florida), and then after I had #1 Son, we had Florida resident passes and went multiple times a year. I know, you understand that, because after all Disney is for children. Then I moved to Maryland and pretty much stopped going. I think we went once after Daughter was born. It wasn't because I didn't love Disney, because I did. I just had other things that occupied my time and other places to go.
Then Daughter went to school in Tampa, which is only an hour away from The World. Then Office Testosterone got sick and died. Daddy was dying slowly from Alzheimers. Life was hard. I needed some whimsy in may life, so I decided to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I decided to do it in costume. Now, you may think running in costume is silly and potentially embarrassing, and if I were running Boston, I'd agree with you. But this is Disney - everyone runs in costume. It's kind of like a big Halloween party where everyone runs. The more elaborate or realistic the costume, the better. Planning that first costume, I involved Office T before he died. I had a focus which wasn't the reality of Office T and Daddy. I was supposed to run with a friend, but she ended up unable to come, so I invited Daughter and my aunt instead. Here's what happened.
My costume was great. The race was tough. My knee was hurt. I had to walk a lot. But, I stopped and posed for pictures at every. single. character spot along the way. It took me forever to finish the "race," but I loved it. The weekend wasn't really about the race, though. Daughter, aunt and I had a blast. We went to the parks and saw them through grown up eyes. We were silly. We stayed as long as we wanted at attractions. We ate in nice restaurants. We had fun. We were making memories together. And Disney? Well, Disney was magical. The cast members are always courteous and helpful; they go out of their way to make sure your trip is perfect. And if it isn't perfect, they make it right.
The next year, Daddy had died and Mommy wanted to come. And my cousins. The group became large. Our ages went from my daughter at 21 to my mother at 78. We had a blast again. The trip was totally different from the first, but we had fun. More importantly, we had fun together. Most importantly, we had fun when it wasn't a holiday, with all the stress that entails. We made happy memories. We were just spending time together, experiencing life with each other in a whole new way. We make new special memories every year. Sure, over the years (we're heading into the 8th year now), we have gotten to see each other's quirks and some of those quirks are not really the most endearing. So what? It's part of being together. It's become a tradition.
But why Disney? Disney is the same place, so it's familiar every time. It's also a different place every time we go. We haven't done the same things or had the same trip twice. Sure, we have our favorite restaurants and attractions, but the trip as a whole is different each time. What is the same is how we feel. Disney is a happy place. Disney is a well oiled machine where you know everything will be great, and if it's not, Disney will fix it. It's a place where, for the most part, people are their better selves, where the cast members treat you as a friendly neighbor and not just another body through the gates. The food is great and the service is wonderful. Plus, I love the attractions.
So, that's Disney. What is most important to those of us here in the Trenches is that my Disney tradition is a fairly recent development. It didn't exist until 8 years ago. Life was hard. Unwanted change was happening. We needed something to bring us together as a family in a positive way, because there was a lot of negative going on. We tried something new, something we hoped would be a fun and enjoyable time for all of us. We didn't know when we started that it was going to be an annual tradition. We just gave it a whirl. Here in the Trenches, lots of folks have just finished the holiday season with traditions that don't work anymore, with family relationships that have changed. They're sad because what they once knew doesn't exist anymore and they have lost people who were a large part of their lives. As you head into the holidays, you really can't think about how to do anything different. It's January now, and you have 11 months to re-imagine the holidays. You have 11 months to plan something new. Try something different. Maybe something really different. Maybe not even on the holiday itself. It might become a tradition, and it might not. One thing is for sure, you won't dread the holidays. You might even find a way to celebrate that you never thought would work but ends up making this year the best holiday season of your life. You will never know unless you try. Here in the Trenches.
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