Making memories

This winter, my family visited a popular outdoor musical event in a nearby town.  One of the big draws is that it "snows" during the performance.  We had heard rave reviews in years past and were looking forward to making a memory.

The event was scheduled to start at 7:00 and we arrived pretty close to that time.  I acknowledge we should've arrived earlier for a better viewing spot on the sidewalk.  Basically, we were part of a large crowd that was standing 3-4 deep on a sidewalk and courteously trying to maintain an open path for pedestrians trying to squeeze through to shopping nearby.  We were pretty much pinned against a storefront window and people taller than my kids were walking or stopping right in front of them.  But we were together and making a memory.

It became more and more crowded, to the point that pedestrians pretty much had to swim through the crowd to get through.  People were trying all angles to get through and I was seriously concerned that one of my kids would be swept into the tidal ebb and flow, carried away with the pedestrian wave. One girl stood behind me and said, "Excuse me."  There was literally no space in front of me.  I wondered where she wanted to move to and told her, politely, that there wasn't anywhere for her to go. She huffed at me, backed up, and went another way.

The height of the evening was when a older man (I would not call him a gentleman) tried to push past Gaston in an irritable state.  I'm not sure what ignited the confrontation, but I looked over to see this man using inappropriate language and my husband getting ready to have a streetfight.  And at this point, I was all for it.  "Go for it, honey, show our kids you are the man and nobody messes with us.  We will pick you up at the police station later."  I am being serious.

Remarkably, Gaston showed great self control.  He later admitted he really didn't want to have a police record because he was looking for work at the time.

So the show finally starts.  I was expecting fireworks and riverdance, shock and awe.  I have to say the performers really gave it their all, but most of them looked like they were still in high school.  I was hoping the snow would redeem the whole evening.  It had to.

If I had not have looked up at just the right time, I would've missed the "snow."  If you squinted and tilted your head just right and if the streetlight reflected at just the right angle, you could see foamy bubble-looking snow about three stories up.  It did not float anywhere close to us.  I'm not sure my kids even saw it, even though I was screaming to "look up at the snow!!!!"

After the performance, my daughter summed it up with these exact words.  "Well, that was disappointing."  And all of a sudden I was laughing.  So true!

As we walked back to the van,  I told the kids we had experienced something we would never forget.  We had gone through something unpleasant and frustrating and difficult and would always remember the terrible silly time we had at the Christmas-event-that-shall-not-be-named.  And we would look back and laugh at the absurdity of the evening together.

So all of that to say, even if this trip is not filled with fun and laughter and enjoyment every second of the day (which it won't) we are making memories together.  Good and bad.