The Happiest Place on Earth
Anaheim
December 3, 2004
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It was supposed to be just a birthday dinner at Lawry's.
Have Jerry fly in from Dallas, and we would meet up
there to feast on prime rib, as we did in
the days of yore. When we learned Sue and her kids were arriving early
to go to Disneyland, we thought we'd take a day off and do the same.
At Thanksgiving, we asked Mom if she wanted to join us, and she seemed
interested. Then at some point during the week, to our surprise,
even Dad & Jerry said they thought that sounded fun. When Dad hesitated that
morning, I sent word that I would buy him lunch --
an overpriced cheeseburger, or whatever he wanted.
They showed up at the castle at noon.
The park can be tricky with a large group: too many people, too
many choices, too many childish emotions. But things went
surrealistically smooth, a harmonious flow from one ride to
the next. In mid-afternoon, we found ourselves at the animation studio
in California Adventure's Hollywood land, surrounding Dad as he
offered slightly embellished answers to the personality test that
would liken him to Gaston, and I thought, "Hey this isn't our family...
This is Steve and Calli's family!"
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