A Little Disney Magic

I first experienced the wonderful world of Disney in 1976, shortly after Walt Disney World had opened and during the American Bi-Centennial. The theme park was in full celebration that week and every memory of that vacation is still vivid in my memory today. Perhaps the happiness that I still remember from that week is what makes the joy of Walt Disney so important to me.

The past few weeks have been filled with enormous emotion on so many levels. With the sudden passing of my roommate and friend, the stress in my life has been at an all-time high that, not only shook me like an 8.5 earthquake, but also swung my emotions in so many directions I was dizzy just standing still. And, then, this past weekend, for the first time since everything happened, I took a weekend for me and the destination was the happiest place on earth. 

At first, I was going to drive to my desert paradise, but as it turned out, Saturday was mini-gay day – a smaller gathering in Disneyland than the huge 3-day October event held every year in the park.  And, with my friend Steve flying in from Phoenix to join me, it couldn’t have been more perfect.  Steve and I met 20 years ago, when we both worked at Intuit software in Northern California. When I bought my first condo in San Francisco, he graciously let me live with him until escrow was done and through rodeos, commuting together, nights out in San Jose and San Francisco, and work, our friendship was a solid one. Even when I moved back to Boston and lost touch, I was never worried about the foundation we had built and two years ago, when the time frame between us had grown to over a decade, we reconnected as if no time had passed. That - I’ve come to realize, is what makes a true friend. There’s never any blame on who lost touch with whom or a diatribe of excuses thrown in the wind – you simply pick up where you left off and the years in between melt away. And throughout this ordeal these past few weeks, I’ve come to realize that I have great friends – solid friends who are there for me no matter what.

Just wait until October

I knew how disconcerting it was for Steve to leave the heat of Arizona for a  cold and rainy April day in Los Angeles, and not a minute went by all weekend that I was not incredibly grateful for his company. When the water stopped pouring out of the sky and the sun shone on Saturday, it was almost as if Walt himself had declared that it was not to rain on our Disneyland day.

“I’m on your schedule,” Steve said at one point when I asked what time he wanted to reconvene one night for dinner and that simple gesture spoke volumes to me. For anyone can simply say they’re a friend, but like love and a relationship, it’s the actions behind the words that never fail to prove it. 

Amongst the red shirts of the folks who attended Mini Gay Days, Steve and I got lost in the magic of the Kingdom. Drinking (a lot) in Downtown Disney, including an interesting concoction at Trader Sam’s in the Disneyland Hotel, we talked about a million different things. I shared the experience of the last few weeks and, though the images never leave me, they are slowly fading and easier on my mind. The weight of that night and the following days has begun to lift.  

Surrounded by all things Disney, avoiding Goofy at all costs (that’s another blog), hanging out with Steve, Pluto and all the red shirts, the weekend did exactly what I had hoped - it brought the magic back into my life.