My Once in a Lifetime Trip - My Column - May 10, 2012

For the past two weeks, I have written my column however, those columns were written in advance - something I never do! I always like to keep my column current so I can air or share my latest gripes, compliments or experiences. My columns were written in advance due to the fact that I was away, collecting on my Christmas gift from my husband. On Christmas morning I was given three gifts. The first one was a bottle of Dramamine. Now keep in mind that my daughter had just had another ultrasound and had been very ill, so I figured they were going to tell me if it was a boy or a girl. My second gift was a box of Lucky Charms. Aha! I knew then that she was having a boy as that was her son, Alex's favorite cereal. I then received my final gift which was a blue plastic boat. Yes, it was a boy. Just then my grandson came over and said, 'Grammy, open up the boat!' I did and I found a bunch of papers folded up. As I was scanning over the words, I read 'transatlantic cruise' and 'thirteen days.” Was I seeing things? Then I saw the word 'Ireland.' Tears were streaming down my face and my daughter translated everything for me. ''Mom, you are going on a transatlantic cruise to Portugal, Ireland, France and England and then flying back to Dublin for a few more days! It's your gift from Papi!' My husband has constantly said he would never go on a cruise, so the next words out of my mouth were, 'Who am I going with?' They all laughed and said with him. You know ladies, men can be jerks at times, but every now and then they pull something off that just shows you that you are truly loved and this was one of those moments. Prior to leaving, my husband told me he upgraded to a balcony room. At that point I informed my family and friends, 'Please know that I will never drink so much that I fall overboard, so please investigate.” Well, over the last three weeks since April 21st, I have been on that 'once in a lifetime' trip and over the next few weeks, I hope you don't mind but I want to share my journey with you. If you think this is like the dinner host showing you pictures of their kids or trips, you can ignore my column for a few weeks, but I hope you will allow me to share with you the tears and laughter I experienced.