Surreal

They warned us that it would be too cold, suggesting we shouldn’t do it. We’d freeze and wouldn’t enjoy ourselves.

On our thirtieth wedding anniversary we were in the middle of a cross-country move. We didn’t have a home yet, so we were staying with my mom. We had been spending our days looking for a place to live, and on our anniversary we wanted some time off from the moving melee. But, what could we do that was romantic? I mean, thirty years, THIRTY YEARS! I was proud of us making it that far. I wanted to mark the day.

We had never done a Lake Michigan sunset dinner cruise before and looked into it. The weather forecast at first said rain, so I didn’t book it.

Then the forecast changed. No rain, but cold. Yes, on June 1st, it was supposed to be 55 degrees in Chicago. People told us it would be even colder on Lake Michigan. We’d better bundle up. The talk of chill dampened our spirits. Most of our winter clothes were packed in storage until we found a place to live. Just coming from Florida, would our blood be too thin for such a change? We thought perhaps we should heed the warnings of others.

So, we didn’t book it …

… until midnight on June 1st/May 31st. We decided to throw cold-caution to the wind.

We found some warmer clothes to wear and headed from our suburban dwelling to downtown Chicago. It felt like we were on vacation.

We boarded the boat an hour before it sailed. On the top deck, I really wasn’t that cold. But, “just wait,” my husband said, “once we’re out on the water it’ll be frigid.”

Well, for my husband it was nippy. For the other passengers it was frigid.

For me, it was glorious.

I looked back at that toddlin’ town and wondered, do I really live here now?

It was surreal.

I lived near this city for twenty-five years, then went away for twenty-seven and thought I’d never be settled here again. Boy, this place has it’s faults. Big time faults, but somehow it dug a pit inside my heart and stayed there. Tears welled in my eyes.

Yes, I live here now!

The cruise was just lovely. I was not cold. The food was average and nothing to write about, but the atmosphere made it all worthwhile. They even had a dance floor for that added romantic touch we’d been looking for.

So glad we didn’t listen to the balkers. I think that’s a lesson for life. Don’t listen to the balkers in our society today. There is always good to be found, even in “cold” situations.

Have you ever been discouraged to do something but did it anyway? If so, how did it turn out?