Saying Goodbye to Balloons

As my aunt and I were leaving Houston to head toward Galveston today, she stopped at the Dollar Tree, handed me two dollars, and send me into the store to pick out a "something special." The item I was to buy was a balloon. There were no rules about which balloon I chose. It could be a happy birthday balloon for me cos we were celebrating my birthday on this trip to Galveston. It could be a bright smiley face cos we were also celebrating the memory of my mother--my aunt's sister--on this trip. It didn't matter what I chose.

I walked over to the balloon area and reached up to grab the "passel" (get it?) of balloons and looked 'em all over carefully. There was a congratulations balloon. There was a birthday balloon or two--and one even had the princesses on it! There WAS even a smiley face balloon, and I was considering it seriously when my eyes landed on the PERFECT balloon--a bright shiny yellow star. Only those who know my mother will understand the significance of this balloon and realize how PERFECT it was. My mother's signature always had a moon and star just behind the last "E" in "Pattalee." (kinda like i have a smiley face over the last "E" in my name. Once I saw the yellow star, there was NO OTHER BALLOON.

Needless to say, I purchased the balloon with my aunt's money and we were on our way to Galveston. We chatted all the way there about this and that and finally made it into town and were first in line at the Ferry!

We made it over to Boliver Point and to a beach where we intended to let the balloon drift off into space, hopefully being found by some stranger somewhere who would read the notes we taped to its strings. We each wrote a note. I think i forgot to tell you that fact earlier.

My aunt wrote a cute note which said the following:

8/3/2010 Galveston Bay

Hi There!

I am "tourist" here today and sending this balloon up to my Sister. If you find it and call, you'll get a treat. :) Angie (xxx) xxx-xxxx.

I didn't realize hers was going to be so light-hearted! I wrote a serious note, to my Mother--though I knew she couldn't read it. I said:

03AUG10

Dear Mother,

Did you know I just celebrated 41? That means it has been nearly 8 years that you've been gone. I miss you, ya know and often have questions I wanna ask you.

I want to say thank you. So much of what is best about me came from you--except, of course, the things which are best about me which came from Daddy. :) Things are well and I'm really looking forward to the best part of my life. I wish you were here to enjoy it with me--to help me edit what I write and to laugh, and to sing, and to be silly. I love you and miss you.

Lolly Fabulous

P.S. if you find this--give me a call--->whomever find this! (xxx) xxx-xxxx

My aunt was totally prepared. She had 3 x 5 cards in neat colors, two pens, a sealable plastic bag so the cards wouldn't get wet, and tape with which we could tape our cards to the balloon.

We arrive at the beach about 4:00 in the afternoon and I got out to let the balloon go. I did and was astounded to see it go right back over my head and toward the ground. The wind was blowing enough that it kept going slowly--about five inches off the ground--away from the ocean and back toward the beach houses and patches of long grass. It had gone just a bit when my aunt told me to go catch it. I began to run after it--and the wind picked up! It was like my own special comedy of errors. (I think because it was meant for Mother, there almost HAD to be some funny, crazy thing occur. At her memorial service when we spread her ashes--the wind picked up at just the right moment--and a few of her ashes came back and landed right on us!)

So, here I was chasing this "hello Mother" balloon back up the beach. Since it had a head start, the balloon soon ended up rolling its way through the long grasses--getting stuck and freeing itself just before I got there--several times. Finally, I caught it and my aunt tried to lighten its load by cutting off the enormous amount of string affixed to its bottom.

We tried again. And it got stuck in the grasses again! Finally, my aunt and I decided to cut off the notes and drive over to the houses which backed up to the Intercoastal Waterway. This time when I let it go, the balloon immediately soared into the sky and was up, up, and away! It flew up there so quickly and we soon lost sight of it. It was a neat moment--my aunt and I sitting in her car watching the balloon we bought to celebrate my mother disappear into space. I'm really glad we did this little "something special." It made me happy. And, though I love and miss my Mother very much--what made me even happier is that--finally--I didn't cry.

Just do it--Be Fearless!!!

My aunt, is a really interesting person. She will be 72 next month and is a retired teacher. Whenever I spend time with her, I learn something new. She is fearless and giving and not afraid to try things. She knows what she wants and she figures out how to do it. You'd think that someone who is nearly 72 and has had 3 or 4 surgeries in as many years would be timid and homebound. Not so with my aunt! When I lived in Kilgore, she drove 5 hours to spend some time with a friend of hers--and, of course, to see me. We took a week long driving tour of east New Mexico and West Texas last year to celebrate my birthday. We explored the city of Los Angeles and her environs and took a cruise to Mexico. She is just amazing. I want to share something she recently did. This little episode in her life illustrates perfectly her go-live-it attitude.

There is a new Mexican restaurant in her part of Houston. It is called El Toro. Her first trip there--to "check it out" began with her waiter asking her what she would like to eat. She had looked at the lunch menu (prices between $ 6.89 and $ 9.89) and was disappointed to find that--as usual in most Mexican restaurants--they didn't have ONE meal that had just what she wanted. She spoke her mind about it--nicely, of course.

"They never have exactly what I want on one plate. I like this and this and this and I want that thing, but not exactly that way, and they never have it."

"Well," asked the waiter, "What DO you want?"

Rather pleased, my aunt said, "Well, I'd like 1 ground beef crispy taco, 1 chicken flauta, some pico de gallo, 1 cupola queso (yes, she said it that way), 1 cupola sour cream, and instead of guacamole, can I just have some sliced avocados?"

"Yes, of course" said the waiter, "We can do that for you."

My aunt was pleased. She just wanted what she wanted and knew she would have to pay for it. She figured this one meal was going to run her more than $12.00, but she was going to enjoy it because it was EXACTLY what she wanted. The meal came out and was perfect. She enjoyed it immensely. Then came two surprises. The first one came when she was presented with the check. The bill for her lunch plate was--not $12.00 or more--but $ 6.89, the lowest of the lunch combo prices! I think that restaurant has made itself a loyal customer--and, in fact, I'd like to go there one day, also.

The second surprise came when the manager visited my aunt during the last minutes of her visit to El Toro. He asked how she liked it, and, of course, she answered positively.

"Good!" he said, "Well, we'll be able to do that meal for you any time you come to visit"

"Maybe you should name it then." she suggested. "How about 'The Nonita?" (Nona is grandmother in Italian)

"Yes!" Said the manager, "It shall be the Nonita." And, my aunt has returned to El Toro a time or two, and always has the Nonita. Her fearlessness has produced--at least at this particular Mexican Restaurant in west Houston--her very own meal, just like she likes it--perfect, every time!

Yay, Auntie! Good for you. Hopefully, we'll all have the bravery to--every now and then--speak up and get something--some small thing--which makes us happy.