A Trip Courtesy of Peter Pan's Wings

 

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”

― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan    

As is always the case, you must get back to the real world after a trip.  Life must go on.   

You sparkle the pixie dust on yourself and fly about for a few days, but you eventually must come back to earth.

But you never come back to earth completely, because in my experience, every trip we take makes our lives a little more magical, a little more special, and we carry those feelings with us forever.

“If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness; then if you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take shape, and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire.”

― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan    

I wanted to end this weekend with a short little post wrapping up our trip to Florida. 

It was one of the best trips we've ever had: a mixture of fun, family and memories.  A pilgrimage of sorts in honour of a travelling companion who has now passed on to another, wilder adventure.

The first time I ever went to Florida was 1991, and it was a late honeymoon of sorts with Barry.  We stayed on the Atlantic Coast, walked the beaches, explored seaside towns and we took a couple of day trips over to Orlando to visit Disney World, something neither of us had done as children.  My parents picked us up at the airport and were enthralled by the pictures and the stories.

We didn't return till 2003 when we went with my dad, who was now a widower.  Our kids were 8 and 11 at the time and the five of us had a blast, especially my dad.

My dad's health took a negative turn shortly thereafter, and I am always grateful that he travelled several times with Barry and I and our kids.  Memories made on trips are crisp and laser-focused.

We took our kids back to Disney in 2007.  They were older, we were older, we stayed onsite and we had a great time.  We brought Dad back some gifts and took them to him in the special care home.

On this trip, we took a 19 and 22 year old. We took a girlfriend.


We bumped into various versions of our family everywhere and ghosts of happy memories haunted us around every corner.  We saw grandparents holding hands with grandchildren and we blessed them all.

There was a wistfulness in the realization that though we will likely go to Disney with our kids in the future, it probably won't be until they have children themselves.  Someday, I will be that grandparent.  Someday I will be my dad.

Woven through our entire trip was my dad, both at Disney and out at the Gulf, were we visited with family, Rob and Angela, whom we think the world of and who are always so kind to us.

Rob is now the Patriarch of the McLeod Clan.  Not sure if he'd like the title, but he's inherited it nonetheless!



With the amazing Angela and Rob - best people ever!

I thought I'd end with some final images of the trip.  I realized that though I brought a physical representation of my dad along with us, I needn't have.  He's always with me and will always be with me. 

obviously I'd had a couple of drinks..

 

Sometimes in life the magic is obvious.....



Sometimes it is brilliant:

 

 

Sometimes it a moment captured:

 

 

 

 

Sometimes it is subtle:

 

 

 

My father was a subtle man, but he loved whimsy of all sorts.  And he did adore Peter Pan.


 

 

 

 

There wasn't a moment on this trip that I didn't savour, even when my legs ached!  I drunk it all in and I toasted it all.  The memories were made, and now they can be called upon and enjoyed for years to come.  Just like my father.

 

So Cheers Dad!  We Love you!

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.”

    
J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan