Anticipation

Everyday is nothing short of a miracle and we must enjoy it. The suicides of the past few weeks have not only reminded me of this, but reminded me how important it is to remind even our closest friends how much they mean to us, even if we think they already know. It also has me remembering the friends that I have lost in the past to suicide, reminding me of the life they had as well as the life they never got to see through. Every person in our life means something to us, even if they are total strangers.

My parents and I stopped by Kohls last night to pick up a new vacuum cleaner on sale. On the way into the store I saw an older woman who was having trouble walking up the ramp. I offered her a hand and an Old Navy shopping cart from the store next door. After informing me that she was going into Kohls and not Old Navy, she decided she'd take the cart anyway. She was a very interesting person to talk to and while it may have only been a few moments of conversation to me, I could tell that it lit up her day to have someone to genuinely chat with. We both left the store at different times and went on with our lives. But for me, I will always remember the woman who said she was scheduled to have lunch with Marilyn Monroe the day that she died.


After leaving Kohls I headed north to Wallingford Connecticut where I met up with a group of friends including Nat, Kate and Tucker. Dayna, my roommate from last year and now Kate's roommate, also came with her friend Jess. Nat brought Alice and Cori, a friend from Danbury, drove in on her own. The eight of us frightfully waited for three and a half hours on line for the Trail of Terror haunted trail. The true terror? . . . waiting 3.5 hours for a haunt haha

Part of the curvy almost 4 hour line to get tickets

I have to say though, the time spent with my friends in line was more fun than the event that we came to see. Between Cori being scared out of her mind by a high-pitched cuddly voice turned lunging deep-toned monster and the array of interesting people to watch, we kept ourselves thoroughly entertained. The hilight of the evening was, me. No, I am not vain. I thought the bring a backpack full of goodies was a good idea to keep people happy on a long line. Turned out not only was it a good idea, but it became the entertainment of the night.

The famous hot cocoa bag . . .
which often doubles for hikes

"Grandma" outfit

We started in line with a police officer asking us what was in the glasses we were drinking. I had packed three thermoses of hot chocolate and started to spread the love early in the evening. He laughed and also asked me to open my backpack to check the contents. The first item to fall out? A bag of marshmallows. He almost could not contain himself with laughter and after getting out the words, "great, a bag of innocence, " he continued on down the line of perspective hoodlums. This, and my 'grandma outfit' consisting of a turtleneck, scarf and mom-pants, became the running joke of the evening. This poor officer ran into us six more times and every time was offered tempting hot cocoa with marshmallows.

Cori needed to have her Brisk and I needed some sustenance 

The haunt came and went, and the end of the night concluded with Cori, Nat and I sitting on the back of Cori's tailgate watching the others down Taco Bell at around midnight before we all head home. Everyone happy, everyone fed, and life continues to be worth every single second of it. Even standing in the cold for hours, the company makes it all worth it.