Your Turn
So, for today, I thought we would move slightly away from the trivial and instead do something that requires a touch more writing than shower or bath. What I want today is your best day. Sure, you can give me some kind of stock answer like the day you were married or the day your child was born. Sure, those are great days. But what about the day you skipped school and went to the beach and the day never seemed like it would end. Or about that time you snuck on to Van Halen's tour bus and you partied with them through 3 states and 4 bottles of Jack. I will accept the stock answer, I just want you to think about it before you automatically just put it down.
Next week we will get back to the trivial.
I don't know if I can pick a "best" day, but one that's really burned in my memory as being really good is the day I went to Georgetwon (the neighborhood, not the university) and met my now-ex in the snow & sleet. It was a really nasty day, weather-wise. We went to a tobacco shop and bought some cloves and smoked them huddled under the awning of the shop as the sleet tinked on the canvas of the awning. What an awesome day.
ReplyDeleteOne of my best days ever was the time my friends and I decided to go whale watching in cape cod. There was nothing going on and it was bitterly cold so everyone went inside to drink while I stayed outside when all of a sudden a whale peers from the water, stares and blinks. At that point I felt so awed by the universe and how small we are compared to everything, it blew me away!
ReplyDeleteFirst time I played live in a bar. I was having panick attacks in the alley before I went on.
ReplyDeleteGot a standing ovation after the first song, and was hooked to performing ever since.
I don't know if I can pick a "best" one either. For me it's anytime my whole big crazy family can get together. Most recently that was my cousin's wedding last April. All the aunts, uncles, and cousins in one place at one time. We had a blast.
ReplyDeleteWhen I ended up getting after-show party pass from one of my favourite musicians after one of his best ever performances. He gave me it personally and despite my nerves of being around him, it was one of the best nights of my life.
ReplyDeleteWell, not an actual day, but about 2 months of perfect happiness. When I finally realized my dream of going to Britain. I kissed the ground when I landed at Heathrow (I know i'm a dork) and for the whole 2 months of hitch-hiking and backpacking around I was just happy being there. Didn't matter what we did, I just was THERE!
ReplyDeleteI had purchased a Weiser lock for our house and entered their 25th anniversary contest. Turns out I won the grand price of a 1947 Cadillac Convertible. We sold it and took a portion of the money to take myself, my husband and both of our children on a cruise with no expense spared. One of the side trips we took was in a submarine and THAT was one of my best days ever.
ReplyDeletewe were 18 and it was the night before our exam reslults were being posted at school. These results determined if you got into your chosen university, so super freakin important. Anyway, me and my close group of girlfriends (from same school, we still keep in touch now)stayed over at our friend's house as she lived thisclose to school. We were all really nervous about the results, and we stayed up ALL night, drinking and reminiscing as the anticipation built... it was such an awesome night. We all bonded so closely. We still talk about it to this day. I think it's a stand out night for all of us. So, next morning we walk to school, all of us linking arms and giggling with nerves/excitement... we kiss and hug and wish us all luck and then we individually go into the principal's office to receive our results. Some of us did really well, some of us didn't do so well.. but we congratulated and consoled one another and soon headed off to the pub to start drinking... Now, nearly a decade later we've all done really well and we're still very close... but i think all of us will remember that night/day forever. it's was really special.
ReplyDeleteA family vacation to the beach was supposed to be utterly miserable. I don't get along with some of the family, I didn't have time or money to be going, and a hurricane had just blown thru two days before we went.
ReplyDeleteBut the most amazing thing happened! All the dolphins were returning and every day hundreds of them were in the water, about 50 yards from the shore. One afternoon I went out to swim with them and it was absolutely amazing. I swam with dolphins in the wild!
ps..those things are incredibly LOUD!
The first time my husband and I drove from Monterey to Morro Bay, along the famous US 1 through Big Sur. We had no idea what was in store for us and we were so stunned at every turn. Lots of moments of teary eyes and feeling like our hearts would just burst with joy.
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with nature, and with him, more than I ever could have imagined that day.
One of my best days ever.
Sharing an umbrella with Robbie Williams is pretty high up but...
ReplyDeletemy brother took me to see Beauty and the Beast on stage in London for my brithday one year. we were so drunk and stoned by the time the curtain came up i had a panic attack and almost puked in my popcorn. we left after the show and almost got hit by a cab crossing the road, had a terrible dinner that included a bar fight by some drunks,like Bridget Jones.
lost the camera, left the wallet on the table and waited over 2 hours to get a cab on a sat night in rainy london.
what a top night!
For me it's more special moments that are best as opposed to an entire day. One moment that is particularly valuable to me happened when I was working in the business office of a nursing home. I always went out to talk to the patients and many of them really became family to me. One woman, Bella, was a favorite. On this particular day, I went to say good morning and when she saw me coming toward her, she got this huge smile on her face, just because she was glad to see me. Had a great impact on me and it's one of my most cherished memories.
ReplyDeleteSince my son is getting older and it is considered "uncool" to spend too much quality time with mom, I would have to say that my most recent best day was when we went into NYC. It was just the two of us, and we shopped, spent some time at MOMA, had dinner at Planet Hollywood, and caught a comedy act. Most of all I just loved the talking and laughing we did all day.
ReplyDeleteSo hard to pick! Snorkeling in the Key West coral reefs and taking a whale-watching boat in Cabo are probably the most amazing days I've ever had (they're mind-blowing, aren't they Montana?!). But my best days of all were a few years ago. Chi Chi's restaurant had daily specials, and for months my bff and her twin sister would meet every Tuesday after work for what we called "Taco Boats" (2 tacos for a dollar) and fru-fru drinks. We'd chat about anything and everything, eat good food and drink good drinks, and just forget the rest of the world existed. It didn't matter what went wrong in the week, 'cause we always had Tuesdays to look forward to. It was mundane, but it was also magical, and I always think of it as the happiest time in my life. (Jen & Joey, I love you gals!!!)
ReplyDeleteNo best day, but there are a lot of best moments that I've had in my life ...
ReplyDelete- age 17, just finished high school, waiting for college to start and get my AP English test results. I get a 5, the highest score, and literally run around my parents home for an hour.
- even though I was crying my eyes out, the time my ex-husband packed his stuff and left forever.
- the time I signed my divorce papers. A huge moment for me, meant freedom.
Those last 2 sound pretty dismal, but they were turning points and I count them as some of my best moments.
I have some many great memories. I'll start with one of the best days of my life when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteIt was the day I graduated from 6th grade. I played (flute) in the band. All 4 of my grandparents were there. My parents & brother. And my aunts, uncles and all 3 first cousins). I won the Principal's award, which was such a shock.
That night, my mom took me and one of my friends to see Bon Jovi at Madison Square Garden (this was in 1987).
From morning until night, it was a fantastic day.
When I was going to college my boyfriend/now husband came to visit me from NY for the weekend. We had just started dating and were madly in love. I was going to Tulane, we were up all night driving around NO eating, drinking, making out, etc. and all of a sudden the radio station reminded us that it was daylight savings time and we would have an extra hour before he had to leave the next day.
ReplyDeleteAt age 20, sheer joy. That was 20 years ago.
There are a few days that have remained crisp clear over the years, wonderful snapshots in the mind, but this one shines brightly.
ReplyDeleteIt was on the last day of my honeymoon. We had spent 10 days in the Kruger National Park. This last day we were at Olifants camp.
It was November and heavy-hot and we walked through the camp to a lookout perched at the top of a hill, that dropped down sharply to the Olifants River and an endless expanse of veld.
We sat quietly just absorbing the scene. We heard the crashing before we saw anything. A herd of elephants came into view, walking almost in single file towards the river. There were a couple of babies and they trotted ahead and hit that river with unabashed joy.
While the adults bathed and drank, the babies played and splashed.
Eventually the adults had finished and crossed the river and moved away into the veld, but the kids, being kids carried on playing.
The matriarch must have realised that the kids weren't following and that they had no intention of leaving without some encouragement, she turned back to the river and trumpeted. An unmistakeable "If you don't get out of this river right now, you are going to get a trunk on your behind" type trumpet.
And that was the end of that, the babies followed big mama and we watched then disappear into the veld.
Sixteen years later, I am typing this and smiling. Witnessing another creatures simple joy for being alive is very hard to forget.
One of the best days of my life was one morning when the now ex husband and I woke up early to go to work, and he looked at me and said, "Let's play hooky and go to a Cubs game." We lived about an hour and half from the ball park. It was a beautiful spring day. We both called in sick, got in the car, drove to Wrigleyville, wasted time till the game at a local pub with other fans, went to the game and had a ball(Cubs Win!) discovered what then became one of our favorite seafood restaurants, ate a fabulous meal, went home and had more fun that night. It was just an all around great day. Great people, great scenery, great food, great fun, great sex ;)...yeah, that was cool.
ReplyDeleteFrom adulthood, so many 'best' memories:
ReplyDelete--the day of my PhD graduation and hooding ceremony. (2006)
--Landing at JFK (my hometown airport) after my year of studying/traveling abroad and realizing that I made it. It was a rough start. (1996)
--The first college acceptance letter I received in the mail (Tulane University-where I wound up going).
--the feeling of absolute awe when I went to Greece and realized how OLD everything was.
Brenda--I went to Tulane also! :)
ReplyDeleteRiding on a camel in the Sahara sands, lumbering up to the Gaza pyramids in Egypt and realizing that I was not looking at someone else's travel photo. I was IN the picture and having the most amazing experience! Most surreal experience evah.
ReplyDeleteWith MLK day and the Inauguration coming up - Equality...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOzak95Ztt4
1. High school graduation my mom was so excited for me (I didn't understand why this normally subdued woman was overly ecstatic). She died a month later.
ReplyDelete2. When I graduated college. I spent a day hanging out with one of my loved ones shopping and eating at my favorite restaurant. Most importantly we were both very happy just being in each others company and the weather was agreeable.
3. The first day that realized my dream of going to Europe.
best day so far was when I road-tripped with my sister and BFF down to LA to see Def Leppard play a few songs for Jimmy Kimmel. Not only did I have my teen crushes yards away from me, but when the show was over, we went around the corner to get food at Uno Mas. Turns out, the Iron Man premiere was that same night and we got to see the stars go from the premiere to the party across the street at the Roosevelt. I yelled at Vince Vaughn and he turned around and looked right at me. Also saw RDJ, Terrance Howard, Jeff Bridges and about 1000others. What a blast!
ReplyDeleteLol Jax! I love your that your best day sounds like a wreck, but was still fun for you. That's great.
ReplyDeleteOne summer I tore my ACL and was stuck in a horrible brace and miserable.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend at the time showed up and took me to a small, hidden local park with a blanket and picnic lunch. We made it a regular event that summer.
Best summer of my life.
Probably because of recent events, but: March 5th, 2004. A girl who would go on to become my best friend and I went to the college diner and just talk over coffee for close to three hours. As we were leaving I tried the claw game and won a stuffed spiderman (I had never won a prize before and only very rarely since). I gave it to her.
ReplyDeleteTwo years later we had a major falling out, and only recently have begun talking again.
"--the feeling of absolute awe when I went to Greece and realized how OLD everything was."
ReplyDeleteGWG, I had that exact same experience, only in Istanbul. :)
The last time we went to Germany to visit my husband's grandmother. She'd had a very hard life, not much joy so it really made our trip to see her (and what would be our last time seeing her) actually enjoying herself, drinking shots with all the men and laughing like there was no tomorrow. She passed away a few weeks later. I'm glad that's our last memory of her.
ReplyDeleteI am going to say my best day was the day I married my husband. We have been dating for 2-3 years and I wasn't sure about getting married for the 2nd time. We got married at the campus I worked at and thought that would be something different from my first marriage. My hair stylist did my hair and said that would be my wedding gift which I was not expecting to hear and thought that was very sweet. When the time came my dad walked me up to my husband. I was very nervous and so was my husband, his hand was shaking. When the judge said do you take sylvia for better and worst, and so on, my sweet man said with all his heart. I wanted to cry. A friend of mine heard him and thought that was the sweetest thing anyone would say. Up to now we have had a wonderful marriage. We might not be rich but we are rich in our feelings for each other.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a day, but was more like a week-it was during the time I was studing for the Texas Bar Exam, but was in desparate need of a break: my fiance & I flew into San Jose, rented a car & drove to Monterey (funny that our best day's involve the same city & drive, Melissa! :)) along the coast-stayed in a hotel overlooking Monterey Bay (we sat for HOURS with the binoculars the hotel provided us on the balcony, just watching the otters). We spent a few days there, mostly walking around town, visted the aquarium, then drove to San Franscisco, Napa Valley & finally, back to San Jose. It was so gorgeous! I was so excited that I was finally going to get to see the Pacific ocean! :) My favorite game was "spot the seal" as we drove along the coast.
ReplyDeleteWe did the same thing in New Hampshire (drove to Maine & Massachusetts) in the fall-it was so amazing!
Anytime we go ANYWHERE & rent a car, we make sure to get one with a GPS, so that we can drive anywhere & everywhere & never get lost (we HATE staying on the freeway & avoid it if at all possible).
This isn't a day, but was more like a week-it was during the time I was studing for the Texas Bar Exam, but was in desparate need of a break: my fiance & I flew into San Jose, rented a car & drove to Monterey (funny that our best day's involve the same city & drive, Melissa! :)) along the coast-stayed in a hotel overlooking Monterey Bay (we sat for HOURS with the binoculars the hotel provided us on the balcony, just watching the otters). We spent a few days there, mostly walking around town, visted the aquarium, then drove to San Franscisco, Napa Valley & finally, back to San Jose. It was so gorgeous! I was so excited that I was finally going to get to see the Pacific ocean! :) My favorite game was "spot the seal" as we drove along the coast.
ReplyDeleteWe did the same thing in New Hampshire (drove to Maine & Massachusetts) in the fall-it was so amazing!
Anytime we go ANYWHERE & rent a car, we make sure to get one with a GPS, so that we can drive anywhere & everywhere & never get lost (we HATE staying on the freeway & avoid it if at all possible).
Wow, too many to choose from:
ReplyDelete1. It was about midnight, there was a full moon above Notre Dame and you could see it's reflection in the Seine. The French dude who took me there started rambling on about medieval Paris and as I took in the sight before me lost in his story he leaned in and kissed me passionately. True story and I did marry him.
2. The first time I saw Van Gogh I felt faint.
3. Idem Versailles.
4. Idem The Louvre.
4. Playing music from The Phantom of the Opera FULL BLAST back in college when it was my week to clean and having every one of my roommates (as well as assorted boyfriends/girlfriends who happened to be visiting) sing along to every song ("Sing once again with me ... a strange duet ... my power over you ... grows stronger yet ...").
5. My 7:00am lab on A mountain.
6. Sitting around the pool all day drinking margaritas and chillin' with the homies - man, do I miss the college years.
7. Being offered a full scholarship to grad school after being told by my shrink that some people just weren't cut out for college (stupid cow - even if I did turn down the scholarship).
I could do this all day long. Great exercise; keeps us appreciative.
I've only been engaged to the love of my life for a week, but I would have to say that so far, my best day was the day he asked me to marry him, which was last Saturday.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Alexis!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Alexis! That's so exciting!
ReplyDeleteOn my 15th birthday (2000) we had our winter sports banquet. I had just gotten my hair cut and it looked GOOD. That perfect haircut that makes you feel like (enter whoever your favorite actress is here). I was a freshman cheerleader and the guy's varsity basketball team called us all up on stage to thank us for a great season (unprecedented) and the hot senior captain gave me a bouquet of flowers and a hug. About 10 senior and junior girls told me how jealous they were. It was awesome.
ReplyDeleteMore recently, over the holidays with the extended family my cousins' little ones just made my day. The 4 year old girl told me she just loves it when I'm around and the 5 year old boy gave me a flower and then ran to tell his mom it was because he just loved me so much. My heart melted.
The day I moved to NYC, a cold snowy day in January. It is also my boyfriend's birthday, so I have double the reason to love January 19th. I wouldn't be who I am today or have some of the wonderful friends that I have if I hadn't moved there with $200 in my pocket. I could write a whole book on that first day alone. By the way, my birthday present to him came today, wings from the Anchor Bar in Buffalo. The birthplace of the Buffalo wing. (I think I might be gettin' some tonight, yay me!)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I love everyone's stories, makes me feel closer to all of you. I'm glad that Enty brought up good memories for everybody. We need to do this more in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteCongrats. Alexis!
ReplyDeleteThese are so great. I'm getting teary (in a good way) reading all of them and thinking about my own.
ReplyDelete*Group Hug*
I loved the dolphin and elephant stories!
ReplyDeleteMy best day was FINALLY landing in Paris w/ my special guy friend and walking around for 24 hours w/o sleep trying to cram in as much culture as we could find, and ending up in in a salsa club at 4 a.m. where I discovered mojitos (haven't had one to match those yet!); Daylight breaking, then jetting off once again to Spain to visit his family for a week on the coast of the Mediterranean. They drove me up to Seville where I got to see a mass in Latin in the cathedral where Christopher Columbus is entombed. Hopefully, I'll get to go again.
There have been so many, but the one that stands out the most was my 25th high school reunion. I'd been shy in high school, afraid to talk to anyone, etc. Duck had been a friend, someone who sat near me in many classes, a short boy with greenish skin, a very oily ducktail haircut and a black leather jacket (I graduated in 1960). I hadn't seen him since graduation but at other reunions I'd attended there had been word of him - he was serving his second tour in Vietnam, he was living in California.
ReplyDeleteThe main reunion at the fairgrounds was the next day, but on that night we had a reception in one of the rooms in the courthouse, and I was sitting on a folding chair chatting with my friend Joyce when Duck walked in the door. He seemed to have normal skin and hair now, and had grown about six inches. He stood in the doorway a minute, raised his sunglasses, and walked straight over to me and sat down. He told me that I was the only reason he came to the reunion. He'd been in love with me since 7th grade and had never gotten over it. I was the princess in his daughters' bedtime stories. All he ever wanted in high school was to go out with me in a sports car, but he never asked me on a date because he didn't have a car. He'd flown in from California, rented a sports car, and we were going out.
And we did. Several of us did, there was a gang at the old watering hole where the popular kids (none of us were ever in that designation) hung out. It was magic. I never drank so much and never stayed so sober. I must have had 10 or 12 rum-and-cokes in a two hour period and yet I was never sick, nor was I hung over the next day.
What made it magic was this: you know how people say "do you ever wish you could go back and be 18 again and know what you know now?" We did that, for one wonderful night in 1985. Suddenly my shyness, my geekiness and my unpopularity in high school was wiped out, because even if he didn't speak up, at least one cool boy had wanted to date me, and I made enough of an impression that now, as we both neared the age of 50, he still felt the same about me. I felt like I was sparkling.
The barbecue the next day was an anticlimax, and I cried through most of the two hour drive home that afternoon, because it was so sad to me that our fear of speaking out had kept us from ever being together. I was divorced by then, and I had to think about what could have been, had I married this good man.
But that night was memorable.
Sun bathing naked, by myself, on a sunny 85degree day with no one else around - beach breeze, clean water, low waves, beautiful sand, pelicans and dolphins; a fresh seafood meal, and watching the sun set on the drive home in a convertible - all parts of a perfect day.
ReplyDeleteHere's to hoping my best day is yet to come.
ReplyDeleteWait! Now my happiest day is today because my heat is back on and it was one stupid part and it wont cost a fortune and now we eat wings! Cheers, everybody! Yes, I'm tipsy too. Forgive me! It was damn cold in here!
ReplyDeletei'd also like to add the time when i found out that the man who had abused me from when i was six years old had died. BIG moment for me in my life. I finally found a little peace. Trying not to cry right now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us share.
All of the stories are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou guys enjoy the holiday weekend!
I was raised Catholic, but I always had problems agreeing with the church on abortion (pro-choice), gay marriage (pro), and sex.
ReplyDeleteMy best day was going to confession two months ago to confess to YEARS of sins. HeeHee. I still disagree with the church, but I'm Catholic. Although I'm sure most people would disagree with me. I still have that Catholic guilt. The best part was when the Priest asked if I was finished or had more to confess...LOL...Sigh...
I've had a lot of great days, but probably the best one was the day I was told I didn't have cancer. I was 20 and a grad student in Cambridge, MA and got very sick early in the fall term. I am someone who never even catches colds, so to be very sick and in horrible pain all the time was really shocking. I went to the doctor and didn't tell my family (in CA) about any of this. Two doctors told me they thought I had either MS or cancer. I had an MRI on Christmas Eve and on December 26th was told that while I did have a massive tumor, it was not cancerous. I was stunned to hear I had a tumor and would need surgery, but finding out it wasn't going to kill me or put me in a wheelchair was pretty spectacular.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, my best days & moments involved my brother and me and our dog playing in the forest all day, every day during the summer.
ReplyDeleteWe moved around a lot, so a lot of times (sometimes for many weeks) it was just the two of us and our beloved dog. One memory in particular that stands out was when we moved to a small town and were living on the outskirts, in a newly constructed house surrounded by farms.
The day after we moved in, it was really foggy and we (and the dog) spent the entire day exploring the nearby farms, and even going into the barns to see the cows and horses. In retrospect, it was amazing that the farmers were so patient and cool with us trespassing and petting the animals.
The fog made everything eerily beautiful and mysterious at the same time. Hearing footsteps, but not being able to see who was coming...it was an awesome day.
I don't know if it counts as my best day, but one of my most interesting days was in 1988, and I was on this dial-up BBS, as one one of my girl friends (ah the days of 2400 baud modems)and she was messaging with this guy in LA who thought she was cute and said he and a friend were coming up to the Bay Area for the weekend and would she and a friend be around. She said gee, I'm sorry but my friend and I are going to the Guns and Roses concert at the Shoreline.
ReplyDeleteHis reply was hey cool, let me see if there are tix available still and me and my buddy will come with you if it's okay.
We arranged to meet for pizza prior to the show at the Round Table by the arena.
This guy walks up to us and says excuse me, are you Sandy and Kim? We said yes we were and he asked us to come with him (now in retrospect, I was a complete moron to go, but I did even though I had no idea where I was going with this stranger)and he opened the back door to this very nice car. Not a limo at all, just a really nice Lincoln. In the back were Duff and Slash. It turned out my friend Sandy had been talking all those weeks to Duff McKagan.
I did not go on anyone's tour bus, and I did not get drunk, but it was one hell of a backstage party.
Tripping over my own feet and breaking my ankle at Lollapalooza, in front of half the guys from Nine Inch Nails- I got a free picture, hug, and autograph from Trent Reznor though, so it was probably the coolest injury ever.
ReplyDeleteHere's more:
ReplyDelete--My first kiss with this one particular guy (to this day, the one I think got away). We were hanging out in Manhattan and were headed back to Penn Station so I could catch the train home to my parents' house (I was in college home for the summer). We sat down outside on the floor, leaning against the building (which is Madison Square Garden). A lady came by selling roses and he bought me one. Then he kissed me as the concert at MSG let out. It was a KISS concert and thousands of KISS fans with various amounts of makeup came streaming out. It was such a great moment.
--Spending Rosh Hashanah and Thanksgiving my first year in LA with David Schwimmer from Friends (just before Friends got HUGE).
--Being on Trivial Pursuit a few months ago (watch me on March 27).
--The first time I saw the Garganta del Diablo-the main falls at Iguazu on the Argentina/Brazil border. Breathtaking.
Thinking about all of these moments has brought a much-needed smile to my face today. Thanks Enty and to everyone for sharing.
I was 25 and new mother with a bad case of post partum depression. Finally, someone had the sense to put my in mental hospital in Norfolk, VA. It was a small, private place with a strange curriculum of letting the patients run the hospital. (Supposedly. Ha Ha!) It was the happiest 6 months of my life. We were fed wonderful food 3 times a day, we found the stash of liqour the doctors had had hidden away, we had bowling therapy, art therapy, theater therapy, and music therapy. Then we had plain old group therapy, individual therapy, and of course, the really funny family therapy. I had to make my own bed, but it was a small sacrifice considering all the hysterically good times I was having with some of the most entertaining and creative nut jobs you would ever want to meet. I remember trying to break out a window so I could escape. That was a major preoccupation. "How shall I escape?" I threw a chair at the window and being plexiglass, it bounced back and knocked down. I eventually fell in love with one of the other patients and we had a very intimate relationship which was not easy to do. I was heartbroken when my doctor declared me well enough to go home.
ReplyDeleteGWG - am loving your stories!
ReplyDeletesunnyside 1213 - i can relate to the post natal depression. i was n't hospitalised but i was on medication. I now have another little boy and the cycle has begun again. It's pretty rough, but we get through.
Thanks Cooper's Mom. :) These are making me realize that even though things can be tough, I have a lot to be thankful for and lots of great memories to look back on. I'm so emotional lately. Jeez.
ReplyDeleteI always seem to wind up in random situations. I've got a million of them.
Cooper's Mom-I just clicked on your name and saw that you're in Australia. I'd love to pick your brain! I'm thinking about a big trip to Australia and New Zealand b/c I have enough frequent flier miles for a free ticket! Would you mind e-mailing me? (estolze@yahoo.com).
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ellen :)
It's really difficult to pick one "best" day-but there is one that is always at the forefront of my mind.
ReplyDeleteIt was two days after my 17th birthday and I decided to skip work to hang out with two of my guy friends in Berkeley. Went to the Peoples Park and smoked some happy, and then on a whim my friend bought some salvia. It was the first(and only) time I'd tried it and the three of us couldn't stop laughing our asses off for 15 minutes straight.
Took a train to one of the guy's houses and had great conversations. Drank. Did fun stuff-it was just one of those great teenage screwball days. I remember feeling like I'd lived 9 lives in that day.
There are so so many cherished days, especially those in my childhood. It's great to have those memories, and I hope more are to come.
diving. 2001. maui. it was an incredible wall dive that was amazing to begin with, but as we got on the boat, a giant blue whale breached the water and we were so close and yet so far away. it was amazing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGWG - of course! i will email you tonight once my boys are asleep :)
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed reading the posts. Helped me realize I've had quite a few best days ever. Lots of memories stirred up. (And I keep hearing that song from the Spongebob Squarepants movie.)
ReplyDeleteI'll go with the first memory, that was stirred with the first post. In high school, I went downtown (Toronto) with my friends Corrina, Andrea, and Annette during a blizzard. (This was a rather random event because Corrina and I normally didn't hang with Andrea and Annette.) We went into one shop and decided to buy sunglasses. I called mine Devo glasses - thick yellow frames with green plastic lenses (this was either 1979 or 1980). We wore them out in the blizzard, skipping along Queen St. West, saying hello to everyone who passed by. Annette was the most shy about this whole business. She ran ahead of us only to constantly turn around and yell how we were all crazy. And tell people she didn't know who we were.
Probably a had-to-be-there moment for everyone else, but I remember feeling so carefree.
My best day came after realizing that staying in an abusive relationship for the sake of the kids was dangerous and stupid. In my little Satori haze, I turned a deaf ear on the threats and serenely packed the kids' things. I never even glanced in the rearview as we drove off into the sunset. Leaving all that baggage behind is the closest to Nirvana I'll get this time around. :)
ReplyDeleteBest day and stock answer. I waited for enough posts to post this, so if you are still reading and this gets you dizzy and queasy, well, that's what you get for trolling for sentimentality . . .
ReplyDeleteBest. Day. Ever. My best friend called me from a dinner party and told me, "I just met your husband". I hung up on her. She's always falling for metrosexual younger men. Feh. She called back. She persisted. For weeks.
I got annoyed enough to place a call to the guy in question, left a voicemail that said something like, "hi, our mutual friends are trying to force us on a blind date. Let's foil all that by getting some coffee together and avoid the looming awkward moment when we are at a party and our friends are nudging us saying 'that's the one I wanted you to meet'. We can say, 'oh yeah, I know him/her'"
So he calls back. We chat for four hours. We agree to go to coffee the next day to get that meeting out of the way.
Next day. He shows up on time. Bottom of my staircase (to my walk up flat). I walk out of my apt. door and we look at each other up and down this crazy 40 step staircase . . . cue cheesy music . . .slow mo camera . . . cosmic 2 x 4 hits us both in the head . . . TRUE . . .LOVE.
No shit.
He proposed within the hour. I said yes. Shazam!!!!
Once we could actually formulate words.
True love. Whammo. Like the movies. Two cynics hit in the face with hearts, moons, stars and clovers.
Seven years, four children, two cats and a mortgage later? . . I am still crazy in love with my husband, and he is still crazy in love with me, despite my best efforts to henpeck him out of it.
Sorry to annoy everyone. Love at first sight . . real. True . . and so far . . pretty effing awesome.
There is no better day. Cept that one time, when I win powerball . . .
I know I'm late getting on the "best day ever" train, but I've really enjoyed reading all of your stories. It makes me realize how lucky I am in that I don't think I can pick just one. So, I'll give you two
ReplyDeleteThere's the day I spent driving from New Jersey to Ohio with my friend Kevin. We took the long way to Cleveland, out to visit a good friend of mine and to visit the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. We didn't take the highway and instead took an old byway and stopped at crazy pieces of Americana along the way: the house that was shaped like a shoe, the Elephant Museum (everything inside has an elephant on it!) The Statue of Liberty that was carved from a tree and just sort of hanging out in someone's front yard. We laughed, smoked cigarettes, took pictures of everything and just spent the best day together.
Or, it could be the time my then-boyfriend, the person who may have been the one that got away, took me up the coast of California. It was 1992, and I had really never been anywhere off the East Coast before. We left his home in Salinas, in an old Mercedes, and drove up the coast, two stupid 19 year old kids on a stellar day. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, the breeze was blowing and we had the windows down. I think the radio was on. He drove me up to Pebble Beach and we saw that stupid famous tree, we stopped and marveled at the ocean crashing along the rocks. He was my tour guide, and I loved it. I remember the freewheeling feeling of all that could possibly be, and I remember never wanting to leave. On the way home, he asked me to marry him. I said no. (Hey, I was 19 and a sophomore in college. I had more sense than that!)
Fogcitykitty - I have forgotten what my story was because I am so jealous that you got to meet Slash and Duff!!! *LOL*
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite days was skiing the Marmolada glacier in Italy with my family. It was before I moved to Canada to be with my husband, and the last skiing trip with my dad before he got sick. Great memories! It was an absolutely perfect ski day, clear, not too cold, plenty of snow. It takes forever to get up there and all the gondolas and lifts are frighteningly old, and when you get all the way , you're a bit loopy because the air is thinner...but the VIEW! And the SKIING! That whole week in Val Di Fass was actually one of my best winter vacations ever. Fantastic, and I hope to go again soon!
Val Di Fass = Val Di Fassa,
ReplyDeleteHang in there Coopers Mom. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
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ReplyDeleteAce Tomato, you already won the lottery! :)
ReplyDeleteMan oh man...what an interesting group of people Enty has collected together because of his blog. These posted experiences are fascinating glimpses into your souls...
ReplyDeleteThank you.
When I was 23, I went to Vancouver B.C. with 2 of my former friends. We went there just because none of us had ever left the U.S. and thought that Canada was a frugal way of being "international" for the first time. Well after a day/night of drinking, making out with hot Canadian guys and taking in the sites, we ran into Nate Fillion and Tuc Watkins from One Life to Live.(at the time)
ReplyDeleteI passed by them and was so drunk that I didn't realize who they were and thought they went to school with me. After saying "Hey I know you two! Aren't you in Dr. such-and-such's class?". They said no and then 1 friend says you look like the guys on the soaps.
I went from drunk to drunk and stupid and to make a long story short...I got photos with both and I got goosed by Tuc Watkins.
That was my best day. I gave my grandma a copy of the pics because she has watched OLTL since the 70s.
My best day....two weeks after being hurt but ok in an accident, I went to Top Gun.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I've had any best days yet. I have had some interesting days.
ReplyDeleteI miss having interesting days...
I always arrive so late to the party nowadays. God, I loved so many of these responses, though!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've HAD my greatest moment yet, but I love those moments that are so glorious and beautiful that you just KNOW they'll never unfurl in the same way again. It sounds cheesy, but I love those times when you have to tell yourself to remember things exactly as they are -- take pictures, write down phrases, names of people and places, street names, phone numbers, etc. I've gotten better at documenting those moments. It helps you never take them for granted.
For me, one such moment was waking up at the tailend of a kajillion-hour flight to Australia. It was August of 2000, and I was participating in a Natural Resource Management program on the continent for four months. I think I had something like two pairs of jeans, three tank tops, an adequate supply of underwear, and my glasses. I took NOTHING with me.
I had a walkman (remember those? God, I LOVE my Ipod), though, and I distinctly remember listening to the opening notes of Moby and Gwen Stefani's "South Side" as that green, green ocean slid into view, complete with visible currents and gently lapping foam along the continental coastline. I'm completely convinced that I'll NEVER see water so lovely ever again. I also got my first glimpse of that searing red landscape. My palms were pressed against the window, and I remember being so INSANELY excited for my feet to finally hit Aussie soil. When they did, I remember being bombarded with flowers and trees and musky smells. And the BIRDS! Ohhhh, the birds!!! I can seriously still conjure up the sound of a kookaburra.
There were better moments when I got there, and I've honestly had better moments since, but that's just one moment that was palpably joyful for me.
Oh -- to the person who was thinking about going to Oz -- GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!! It's the best country on the PLANET. Everyone is FRIENDLY and GORGEOUS, and the animal life absolutely can't be beat.
The best day in my life was the day my 4th child was born, healthy! I had been told by the drs. that b/c of my age (43) and some markers they saw in the ultrasound, it was pretty obvious that my baby was going to be born with down syndrome. After meeting with a genetic counselor and my doctors, they advised to either terminate the pregnancy or have some tests done to the baby in the womb to determine if she was Down Syndrome. I said the hell with it, my baby is my baby, and I was determined to not bring risk to her either way. I let God handle the rest. No more testing, no more ultrasounds, no more genetic testing. She was born via c-section, 7 lbs 9 ozs and healthy as can be. Of all the births of my children, this was the happiest because I knew in my heart that I had made the right decision in letting God handle it She is my angel!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter coming out of her coma. Thanksgiving 2004
ReplyDeleteJeepers, ObitGuy, that's a big one!
ReplyDelete