Yesterday started out cool and overcast. We went for our walk about 7:00, and then returned to our room to shower prior to meeting Drew and family for breakfast at La Cordeliere. When we arrived at the restaurant, Drew, Brittany, and the kids were seated outside. This was their last morning at Emerald Bay. Donna, and her friend Susan, soon arrived from the Villa and we ordered our breakfast. Angel and I ordered from the menu, the others had the daily breakfast buffet. The buffet is wonderful, with much of the food prepared fresh with ingredients of your choice. Angel and I only order off the menu as we tend to eat more than we need to when offered the “big spread”. The others in the group this morning are better able to exhibit self-control.
On this “final” morning for some, we engage in joyful conversation, “it was fun’s”, “take care’s”, and “safe travel’s” … until next year … all of it genuine and sincere. We’ve become good friends in our brief, but “condensed”, time together over the past two years. I’ve really enjoyed my time with the family … the pool, dinners, bird hunting, four-wheeling, joking and roughhousing with the boys, the smile of the “little Princess”, Brittany’s photos and conversation, and watching Drew be a great dad and husband through it all
I reluctantly say goodbye to the family. I offer “fist pops and man-hugs” for the boys and Drew. I give Brittany a hug and tell her “to keep these guys on the straight and narrow”. I will miss all of you as we go our separate ways, and I’m looking forward to our reunion next December. Angel offers her hugs and goodbyes to the family. She is thankful that Drew, Brittany, the kids, have “adopted” me in her absence.
Donna is “staying on”. She and I are the “lucky ones”, the privileged few, who have the entire month of December to relax and reflect. She is joined this week by friends, Susan and Gerri.
Angel and I stayed at the beach and pool for the entire day after breakfast. We completed our day in the dark, at the upper “hot tub”, polishing off a couple of happy hour margaritas. The “hot tub” was a “good idea at the time”, but proved to be a mistake in the end. We were seeking quiet and romance, but found annoying, but somewhat amusing, family strife. Some “new arrivals” were in the spa. The father struck up conversation with me early on. He was quite a talker. Then his wife arrived. She didn’t put much space between her words either. Finally, their somewhat inebriated early twenty something daughter arrived at the spa. Mom and dad “shutdown” while the daughter explained to Angel and me, the “family condition”. Mom was “step-mom”. Dad and she had just gotten married last January. They had done this informally, by running off without the blessing of the children from “both” sides. This trip was apparently a Christmas gathering to “heal” the January transgression … mom (step-mom), dad (step dad), and the kids from both families at a nice place … kumbiya. Anyway, the “whole thing” made Angel and I feel a bit uncomfortable, as we were learning far more than we wanted to know. I was getting requests for family counseling, so we excused ourselves, and silently left as the family continued to “yabble” with one another. They will likely avoid eye contact with us tomorrow at the pool.
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