Blog Post
Mooseheart
April 23, 2008Saturday April 12th, 2008
Well, of course my internal alarm clock had to go off at 4:30. I got up and needed some real coffee so I threw on my sweats and my heals (which I’m sure looked ridiculous, but I would do anything for real coffee) and headed down to Dunkin Donuts. Thank God it was only down the street and I didn’t get lost again. I sat in my room when I got back and flipped threw the 10 channels they had in the hotel. When the clock finally hit 7:00, I took a shower and headed down stairs with a goal of going out to buy sneakers because those heals were beginning to kill me.
Down in the lobby were Nancy and her son, Edith with her son, Lori, Andi with her mom, Stefanie and her sister. What a warm morning welcome they gave. We hung around and joked and laughed. The guy working the hotel was a riot. I wish I could remember his name. I felt like I had known these people forever even though this weekend was the first time I had spoken to some of them. Lori and I talked and shared a tear about lost loved ones, which was wonderful because I don’t talk about that much with others. Eventually Alina came down and joined the crew and Kat called from her hotel to let me know she was on her way. I was kind of hoping Andi and her mom’s plane would be delayed or cancelled because she is so sweet and wonderful, but that was not to be and they had to go. Stefanie was starting not to feel well because of her hypoglycemia so we decided to grab a bite. At that moment Edith grabbed all of us and said a little prayer. It gave me such a sense of peace and family. I, Kat, Stef and her sister trotted down to Denny’s where we sat for 20 minutes with only the waitress saying she’d be back with our drinks. The problem was she never asked what we were drinking. We finally got up to leave because we really needed to get Stef some food, so we ended up at Popeye’s Chicken and what a fun crew they had working there. When we were done eating, Stef started to feel better.
Next stop was Wendy’s to meet some other members from the site. At this point I started to crash and still no sneakers. It was getting later in the day and I also needed to find hairspray because I wanted to have big sexy hair (inside joke). We found a store and I picked up a small can of Big Sexy Hair, which is really the name of the hairspray. The girl at the counter didn’t want to sell it to me because I wasn’t a licensed professional. I looked at her and said, “Look, this is a travel size can. I’m not getting a discount and I just need hairspray”. She said fine I’ll do it just this once. I told her don’t worry, considering I live in Mass. She probably won’t see me again. We also ran in to Walgreens quick where Stef and her sister bought me a road rage button because I don’t handle how people drive in Illinois very well. Poor Alina couldn’t go on our daily romp because she had some things to take care of. When we got back to the Baymont it was time to get ready. This time my hair and makeup were going to be perfect!
Woohoo, I did have big sexy Victoria’s Secret hair until we hit the parking lot of Mooseheart. One of the parking attendants thought it was a hoot that I traveled from Mass. to see Dog for my birthday. He kept yelling “Massachusetts rocks!” Wish we thought Mass. rocked enough to have us park a little closer to save our hair and make-up. I have to say that hairspray did hold up quite well.
Once inside, we headed over to the line for the meet & greet for Leland. Stef started to feel bad again. I didn’t want all the people there staring at her so I ran to Nancy and Edith and told them to get a chair ready. I ran back to Stef and quietly told her to put her arm around me like we were buds and we would walk to the table. By the time we got there the EMT guys flew over and blew the whole inconspicuous thing. One of those guys was a hottie though and I used that to joke around with Stef and try to keep her from being embarrassed. She still wanted to tough it out so we went in to see Leland thanks to Nancy and Edith. Stef went before me to see Leland and pretty much collapsed after she took her picture with him. Now if you were there, you know how big of a room the meet and greets were in and yet here we are with security, EMT’S and Leland. I basically just told Leland it was nice to see him again and thank you but I think I need to take her to the hospital and ran to Stef. Darn, another moment ruined. It is better than the whole shirt incident from the night before though along with the giggles I had which normally I can put on quite the charm when I need to. One security guard was so nice letting everyone know how she was feeling and they all finally convinced her to go to the hospital. I felt so bad that they were going to miss the concert so I told her sister to stay and I would go since I saw the show the night before. She wouldn’t leave her sister though and threw her camera at me and said, “Take lots of pictures!” Now I had all their stuff and didn’t want to leave it hanging around so Kat and I made the long walk to my car to lock it all up. When we came back there were the EMT guys standing there, which I thought was a little quick to be back from the hospital. As we walked back in the door, or should I say I limped through the door, there was Stef and her sister. The stubborn ass refused to go. I flew back out the door and looked at the 2 EMT guys and said, “ Why didn’t you tell me they didn’t go? Now I have to walk all the way back to the car to get their stuff and pretty soon you’re going to bring me to the hospital for my feet!” I have to say when they smirked and said jump on in I felt a little flattered but still angry about the pain in my feet.
I told Stef and her sister to take my seat for the concert since I didn’t want to walk anymore and half their night was ruined. I sat at the booth with Nancy and Edith with their kids. I just love Nancy’s son’s look he gives from the corner of his eye. I went back in to hear Dog’s speech and let me tell you it was 10 times the tearjerker from the night before. I applaud him for sharing his personal triumphs and tragedies to help others. When they presented the check over to Mooseheart I felt warmth inside of the way DTBH fans pulled together in honor of the Chapmans and those kids at that wonderful school. A man came out and said a prayer at the end. He had such a gentle way. I was so impressed when Dog said he was a former gang-banger. Earlier, when Stefanie was ill, he had come over just to ask how she was although he had never even spoken to her before. To meet a man who had turned his life around so much and be that kind to others was beyond words.
Now it was time for the meet and greet with Dog and Beth. I brought some of the bracelets and bookmarks we make to support our Putt-A-Thon for the Dana Farber Jimmy Fund. Each bead is colored to represent a different cancer. They have had such an affect on my life that I wanted to give them something that means so much to mean although I didn’t have time to explain about my Dad and why we do the Putt-A-Thon. There were so many people waiting for their 1st chance to meet them and it was my 2nd, so I gave them the bracelets and bookmarks and quickly explained what they were. Again, I was tearing up thinking of my dad. That is when we took the picture that is my banner on my page.
Back at the hotel we said goodnight and promised we would never loose touch. At this point it was about 12:00 and I still had to pack before getting up at 4:30 to catch my flight. I had a hard time sleeping do to the emotional overload I had experienced over those 2 days. I probably slept 2 hours and if you know me that is not a good thing. In the morning I got up and took off down the road. Did you guess what’s next? Yup, I got lost. Well if that darn, and that’s not the word I’m really thinking of, state believed in detour signs past the original one I wouldn’t of had a problem, so I just kept on driving east down the back roads until finally I saw a highway sign. Yup, Illinois doesn’t believe in highway signs either. I ended up at Midway airport instead of O’Hare and had to back track. By the time I got there I had missed my flight. To make a long story short, I didn’t get home until about 6:30 that night. Would I change my first time in a plane or traveling further away to meet the Chapmans along with my new family of friends? Never.
