B & Dee's Excellent Adventure!

In May, 2010, Billy and I attended Bayou Country Fest, held at LSU's Tiger Stadium.  Like any multi-day music festival there were plenty of opportunities between acts to walk around and, like I am wont to do, talk to the people around you.

So I did.

There was a lady that looked about our age sitting behind us, with a teenage girl.  I assumed the girl was her daughter but discovered she was, in fact, a niece.  They had flown in from Atlanta and they initially asked about the availability of cabs after the show to take them back to their hotel. ( No such luck in Baton Rouge, LA.)   During the conversation I learned that the aunt was unmarried with no children and had told all her nieces and nephews that she would take them on a one-on-one trip when they graduated from high school.  Anything they wanted to do - concert, sporting event, cultural event, anything within reason.   This concert weekend was this niece's choice.  Just a opportunity to make a few more memories before the young people were off to college and then The Real World. 

What a fabulous idea!

I felt like I needed to jump on this immediately!  Hayden, Clay and Brett also thought it was a pretty terrific idea.  (You can read about Hayden's adventure here:  Hayden's trip.  Clay has yet to decide what he wants to do.)

I honestly think that Brett has been planning this trip for years.  Possibly since Hayden and I returned.  She pretty much wanted to do the same kind of thing.

Los Angeles or Bust!

So, on August 1, this pretty young lady and I struck out for the West Coast.

 


We were on a mission to see LA and see LA we did! 

We ate like the locals;

toured the Hollywood Hills;

played in the Pacific Ocean;

coasted up the Pacific Coast Highway;

 and spent the day in Harry Potter's world at Universal Studios, including a butterbeer (no worries, just a frozen treat, no alcohol). 

 I even convinced her to go through The Walking Dead attraction with me!

And at the end of a wonderful week, I returned her in the same condition in which I found her.

(I think we look okay for having left LA at 6AM...)

Traveling with Brett was a delight!  She is smart, and funny, and totally low maintenance so we could get started early and go until Dee Dee fell out.  We sang songs in the car while we waited in traffic.  We talked about life, and school, and future dreams.  And how to reach them.   I shouldn't have been surprised, though.  She grew up eating McDonald's in the back seat and sleeping in her car seat as her brothers would be playing some sort of ball.  She's always been a "go with the flow" kind of girl.

It was a very special time.

But she has always been special.  Quick to smile and laugh. 

Always loving, with a caring heart for others.  She was the friend to the young girl in school with special needs, raised money for the Sweetheart Ball for the Heart Association, and is currently taking UCA by storm.  No easing into college life for this one!  She will do great things in this life.

I have loved her from the instant I set eyes on her.   My hopes for her are that all her dreams come true, but not without hard work, for work grows us on the inside.  I would pray that her heart never gets broken, but that isn't reasonable.  Because you have to have felt love to ever feel loss, and I want her to love mightily - someday.  I want her to dream big, and reach for the highest star in the sky, but never lose herself in that journey.  It is easy to do what others expect and forget what you were going after to start with. 

But, mostly, I really want her to enjoy the ride.  To reach the end of her years a very long time from now and have no regrets.  No "I wish I would have"s or "If only I could"s.  Live her own life.

 

 Remember always, Brett, Dee Dee loves you.