The year I turned forty, like nearly twenty-two years ago, my husband plans a surprise trip. Looking back, it’s really amazing to me how he pulled it off and he gets lots of points for that. Anyway, it was Labor Day weekend, Monday. We had the kids in the car, we were on our way to my parents’ place on Lake Fenton. My husband, who never pays much attention to music in the car or on the radio, slipped in a CD as we were driving down Fenton Road. It was James Bond music. I noticed the music, thought it was a little odd, but didn’t think much beyond that because we were talking to the kids in the back seat, ages 13, 11 and five about school starting. All of a sudden, he pulled the car over, got out of the car and pulled a wrapped package out of the back of our family SUV, most likely a GMC Suburban or Tahoe at the time. He handed me the box to open. Since my birthday was two days away, this wasn’t a complete surprise, but the whole jumping out of the car, James Bond music was. I opened the package, there were magazines and my favorite candy bars in the package and it didn’t make sense to me.
“And?…” I said with a puzzled feeling in my mind.
“Your Birthday Adventure begins.”
I don’t think the kids knew, well maybe Sasha, she wouldn’t spill the beans.
“We’re going to drop the kids off at your parents, your bag is packed and you’ll find out where we’re going.”
So we dropped off the kids, stayed to visit a bit, my parents knew that the gal staying with the kids would be picking them up later in the day after the Labor Day cookout and boat ride we usually did and we’d be stopping off at home to collect our already packed bags and off we’d go.
We arrived at DTW, bags dropped off while I made a couple phone calls to friend and we walked past several gates as I tried to guess where we were going. Finally, we heard the call to board the Delta flight to LaGuardia and I now knew we were heading to New York City. I was thrilled and thought well maybe a Broadway show for a couple days, a pretty boutique hotel, a little shopping, Wow, pretty cool. Well, yes that was the plan, but it seemed as if we had a lot of luggage for a couple of days in NYC. But I didn’t question that. He probably brought a big bag for me rather than a carry on because he knew that I have favorite clothes and he probably packed lots so that I had a few choices. Upon arrival, we took a cab through Astoria, the Greek part of Queens and the cab drove us to the back entrance of the historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel. When we got out of the car, the bellman took our bags and showed us the back way to the lobby where there were numerous black and white photos of historic personalities who had arrived at that same entrance, from President Kennedy to the Queen of England to Alexander Haig who actually had an apartment on one of the top floors. The place just looked historic. We saw people arriving from the US Open, and we had a late dinner in the very cozy and dark bar and I remarked as to how floored I was that he had gone to all this effort. The room was stunning with antique furniture and a lovely floral patterned carpet. A couple days of wandering around town, dinner with a high school friend and his wife at a quaint little Italian restaurant before the show on a rainy September 9, my birthday was more spectacular than I could have ever imagined.
The next morning, we woke up and I was told that the Birthday adventure continued. We ended up taking a cab to the cruise port in Bayonne, New Jersey, for where I had no idea. When we arrived at the cruise port, I found out that we were taking a small ship the Regent Navigator to Bermuda. Bermuda had been on the radar for awhile. The pink sand and historical sites had sounded so appealing and it was a dream to be able to see it. We boarded the small ship, were ushered to our lovely large suite with a balcony, walk in closet, a spacious seating area with a couch and large bathroom with two sinks a bath tub, a shower and a nice vanity area. WOW! He had gone all out. I felt a little guilty. It was above and beyond anything we had ever done before. Our luggage was brought promptly to our room, I started unpacking, thinking that it was hard to believe what measures he had gone to to make my fortieth birthday special, when all of a sudden, it all changed…
The announcements were of little interest to me I just wanted to get things put away and get dressed for a short workout, sort of in lala land thinking about the pink sand, maybe moped rides around the island checking out the historical sites, what to wear, he and packed all of my favorite summer clothes when I heard a loud,
“OH NO!”
The captain had just announced that a very strong hurricane was heading towards Bermuda, the largest in nearly eighty-years and that he was plotting out a different route for our cruise. My husband went into ‘take control mode,’ calling our travel agent who was working on a trip somewhere else, I was told to pack the bags, so I started that, then while he was on his cell phone He left the room to talk the purser I had gone from a feeling of elation to a little ‘bumfuzzled’ as my grandmother would say in just a short period of time, my mind was spinning. Brad had encountered the cruise director on his way up the stairs who he told his desire to disembark the ship for another destination, since it was unclear as to where we’d be going. Just then, the captain again came on the PA system to announce that the ship would be taking a route north, rather than south, we’d be heading up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor, Maine, Boston, MA and Williamsburg, Virginia, a couple days cruising, one on the way up and then one on the down. Sounded good to me, hearing this back in the room. Yes, we had been to Bar Harbor and Halifax with the kids earlier in the summer when we did a cruise that Brad worked on as a dentist for Holland America, but it’s a totally different experience when you aren’t managing a five year old and two older kids. I was good with it. Well, I found out that he was not. He had told the cruise director that he wanted to go to Bermuda, not places we had just seen a couple of months ago. His plan was to get us off the ship, get a refund and make other arrangements to go to a beach destination or at least a warm weather destination, it would be cooling down in Halifax and Bar Harbor. The cruise director informed the Hubby that the ship had the right to change the itinerary based on poor weather conditions that put passenger in risk. She tried to convince him that they would make our experience very nice in anyway they could and offer a very good discount on a future cruise, but if we wanted to disembark, we had every right to, but we would forfeit our fare. He called our travel agent, Tammy who told Brad that staying on board was the very best option. So, we did, but he was very disappointed. He had chosen to spend a little more for a ship that went to Bermuda over my birthday week and this was the only option (Mother Nature had other plans). He told Diana, the cruise director, that we would stay after talking to Tammy in Grand Blanc. She said, “Ok Dr Burau, I’ll make it my personal task to make your week outstanding.”
I got back to unpacking, actually just please that he had gone to so much effort to make my birthday special. While finishing up the unpacking, there was someone at our door, I opened it and an attendant delivered an invitation to sit at the captain’s table for the entire week. WOW! We had not had that experience in our years of travel. That would be interesting, I thought. We went to get a quick workout in and then dressed for dinner…
The ship carried about 400 or so passengers. We showed up to our table of eight. It was the Captain from Genoa, Italy, an older woman traveling solo and two other couples. The Captain make an introduction and then we went around the table to introduce ourselves. Of course, my husband had to tell everyone his frustration with the situation when it came to our turn, we were the last to tell about ourselves. The Captain, being an older and very savvy man assured Brad that this was the absolute best decision in light of the danger facing Bermuda. After his comment, a gentleman, who was about ten years older, he and his wife had just dropped off the last of their four children at college at the University of Syracuse, made a comment that changed the whole trajectory of the evening, the week and has stuck with me all these years later,
“You know Brad, when you are on the right ship it really doesn’t matter where you are going.”
This comment from a very wise and successful man, one of the original dot.com guys, who had seen a little more of life than us, having raised four kids, same wife, now retired living on Nantucket Island.
The next day as we were cruising on our way up to Halifax, a letter came from the cruise director, Diana, with several massage appointments for the two of us, reservations on the most desirable excursions and a very generous discount on two future cruises on itineraries of our choice. They had gone above and beyond to make my birthday trip spectacular. The letter went on to say that they wanted to do everything they could on their end to make a special event in our life enjoyable, even if it was due to conditions out of their control. At this point, there was absolutely NOTHING to complain or feel bad about. They did not need to do this, as they were not responsible for the circumstances. From this point on, the trip took a turn. We looked forward to dinners with our special table of new friends. We listened to the Captain tell us some of his favorite destinations and what it was like growing up in a sailing family in Genoa. Mr. dot.com explained that he had planned this trip to make the transition to a quiet life with all the kids gone for his wife, a little special. He knew it would be hard on her when they left Syracuse. The solo traveling gal had just lost her husband of fifty something years and this was something they had done through their marriage. It was her first cruise alone. Couple number two was from Santa Barbara California. Robert was a prominent attorney and his wife Julie had an event planning firm, planning many special events in the SB area. Craig and his wife were ranchers from Montana. Each evening we heard about the families, children and life experiences. We all became friends over the week or so we were on the ship…
I liken the “right ship” experience to having the right person to go through life with. If you select the right one, it doesn’t matter what comes into your path, you make it through. It doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing but sailing that is manageable. When you have a like minded equal to navigate the storm of life, it makes the trip less lonely and having two to share in the burden, makes the load lighter.
The same could be said of the friends along the way. If you have friends who are kind, genuine and supportive it can enhance the journey. Have you ever noticed good people with the wrong group of friends? I have and it’s so sad. Who we choose to be around is up to us when it comes to friends and making good choices can make such a difference. Maybe it’s that when one is in the middle of a situation, they don’t realize just how bad it is and what a negative impact poor friends can have on them or the wrong significant other. The good people around you won’t tell you WHAT to do, that’s up to each person, but to have a genuine friend or special person will say, “Hey, here’s what I’m noticing, maybe I’m off base, but have you thought about________?” The people who care about you will suggest that you ask yourself the hard questions…
This time of year, I often recall that comment from Mr. Dot.com,
“Brad, when you are on the right ship, it doesn’t really matter where you are going.” Correct. Glad to be on the right ship in life and grateful for the family, Chief Friends and fine people in my life making for many Great Days ❤️
