Elizabeth Josephine Quimby (Lizzie Jo) took the trip of a lifetime.
She, along with her friends Briony Reeves and Julia Yale, traveled to the far
away Big Apple land known as New York to celebrate the commencement of 2012.
The trip began a little something like this-
Lizzie Jo and Julia boarded a plane in Kansas City, Missouri.
Also on the flight were some friends of Lizzie Jo’s, Za and Sa. Lizzie Jo sat
next to a young lad on the plane. She learned during the flight that he was a
professional flyer due to being born in England and moving to American when he
was just two years old. Lizzie Jo referred to this young lad in her brain as
‘Harry Potter’. The flight attendant, as she sped through her safety spiel,
mentioned Alec Baldwin and suggested those on board power down their electronics
and temporarily end any Words with Friends games so as to not have a repeat
fiasco. The flight to Chicago was dandy except for the extremely rough landing.
It was the kind that silences the passengers and then evokes nervous laughter
at having survived.
The gate for the connecting flight was forever away, so
Lizzie Jo and Julia booked it across the moving walkway at Midway Airport. Upon
finding the correct gate, Lizzie Jo opened a box of Zicam and popped a dose
into her mouth and let it dissolve on her tongue while Julia went to buy
bananas. The back of the Zicam box advised staying away from citrus after
taking a dose. Lizzie Jo debated internally as well as externally as to whether
or not a banana was considered a citrus. It is not. Still in her sick-headed
fog, a young Harry Potter appeared before Lizzie Jo. Turns out it was just a
young boy in costume, but still. Harry Potter seemed to be infiltrating Lizzie
Jo’s brain.
Glad to finally be on the plane, Lizzie Jo and Julia leaned
back and listened as the flight attendant gave her shtick. This gal knew how to
entertain her flyers. She clarified that by turning on the flight attendant
light they would not be turning her on. She also stated that they needed to
turn their electronics to airplane mode otherwise they would go straight to the
commode. It was all laughs with this flight until the pilot came over the
intercom saying there was some duct taping that the wing needed. WHAT? Lizzie
Jo looked out her window to the wing. It appeared in tact. Oh wait; a man was
now inside the plane duct taping an overhead bin- crisis averted.
Lizzie Jo and Julia arrived at the Baltimore Washington
International Airport and ran into only a few minor mishaps in locating their
ride- their friend Briony. Briony easily located the two by recognizing Lizzie
Jo’s walk. Once Briony was located and luggage was chucked into the trunk the
girls were off to find sustenance, food. With as late as it was fast food
chicken nuggets, French fries, and ice cream would have to suffice. Over the
multitude of chicken nuggets the girls yacked about books. Which ones made
their lists for the new year, which ones impressed and which ones depressed,
and which ones would be reread.
Next on the agenda was for the girls to drop their bags off
at Briony’s house in Washington DC. This event led into an exchange of
Christmas gift- most of which were books. Lizzie Jo acquired some of the Harry
Potter series and Briony got an Alice in Wonderland puzzle. Before the girls
went wild and tore the puzzle box open, Julia spoke up about going to visit her
friend.
Lizzie Jo, Julia, and Briony hopped in the car and ventured
over to see the friend of Julia. She lived in a swanky place with hardwood
floors and a big window with a view. White wine was poured into glasses and
sipped while a Pandora station played ‘J Crew’ tunes. Accusations were made
about Lizzie Jo, Julia, and Briony being crazy for making plans to be in New
York City on New Year’s Eve, but alas, the girls are crazy.
The first night Julia took the bed and Lizzie Jo slept on
the air mattress. Night seemed to transition into morning all to quickly and
was first seen when canine Cheese leapt onto the air mattress and awoke Lizzie
Jo from her treasured slumber. The girls laughed and decided to gear up and get
to the bus station. Clothes were layered, boots were laced, scarves and gloves
were donned, money was hidden in intimate apparel, and bags were packed.
Once at the bus station Julia and Briony dumped Lizzie Jo
along with the bags at the pick up gate and went to find drinks. Lizzie Jo
requested a chi tea latte, but what she received was not in any way a chi tea
latte. Thank you for nothing Au Bon Pain. Aboard the bus, Lizzie Jo sat next to
a gal who seemed to be equally as sick as she was, so she felt less pathetic
anytime she would cough, sneeze, or blow her nose. Julia made friends with her
seatmate and loved watching all the east coast scenery that buzzed by her
window.
After the bus spit the girls out in New York City they
worked their way to Lu W’s west side apartment. A mariachi band serenaded them
to the stop they needed and the apartment was just around the corner from
there. Lu’s sister, Li, greeted them at the door and escorted them up to the 7th
floor where they were welcomed to stay for the night. The girls took advantage
of the sofa for a few minutes before layering up for the Big Celebration. Li
gazed from afar and listened as the girls talked each other through the
preparations.
Lizzie Jo was the first to secure her Depend under layers of
jeans, tights, and unmentionables. She liked to use the idea of jumping on a
trampoline as a metaphor for sitting with a Depend on. Being in a super big
crowd and not having access to a bathroom was the catalyst for wearing a Depend.
Julia also had a “Depend bottom”. After the pat downs were made to make sure all
things were in place, the girls took Li’s keys and excitedly descended to the
main floor. They jumped on the subway after loading up on Luigi’s Pizza and
began inching their way to Times Square.
Barricades were already in place by the time the girls
neared the area of the Big Celebration. After blocks and blocks of walking and
attempting to find the best way to merge with the crowd they finally had a
slight rhythm to their walk. That was so until Briony saw a crack in the crowd
and broke through it. The girls linked hands and away they went. They flew in
and out of a sea of people, trash, puddles, conversations, and confusion.
Another group of girls, larger in numbers than theirs, joined their link and
was impressed at Briony’s skill to worm her way through the throngs of people.
Intersection after intersection and barricade after barricade the girls
continued. They were passing so many people and seemed to be making good time,
but unfortunately got stopped and decided to push their way through security checkpoint
number one. From one side of the barricade to the other the crowd was forced to
single file and belongings were searched. Lizzie Jo, Julia, and Briony passed
security but lost their new friends somewhere in the jumble.
Back on their own, the three girls sought out a spot that
looked promising for seeing the celebrities and for getting a new year’s kiss,
neither of which became a reality. They ended up on Broadway and 51st
Street and had made it through another security checkpoint. For as far away as
they were and considering they could not hear anything or see anything, they
had a memorable evening. Every hour, before the countdown signifying the new year at
some location on the globe, the girls sang a little song and took turns quoting
favorite movies and books. Lizzie Jo started this routine by giving an
approximate 30-minute synopsis, with quotes, of ‘The Goonies’. Briony went the
next hour by giving a synopsis of ‘The Lion King’. And lastly, on Julia’s turn,
she gave a synopsis of “The Little Princess”.
Lizzie Jo discovered that beneath
the craze of the Big Celebration there loomed a quiet, dark, slow, and
comforting setting. So, after each synopsis, the girls planned their song for
the coming hour and Lizzie Jo found herself resting on the underside of the Big
Celebration.
As time went on Lizzie Jo sat down every hour not only to
give her feet a reprieve, but also to relax her aching and dehydrated body. The
closer the tick tocks got to 2012 the more the girls could feel the lack of
fluid intake in their drying out bones. Lizzie Jo had already gotten great use
out of wearing her Depend and had lost count of exactly how many great uses had
come of it. Julia did not make use of hers.
The time had come to make the final countdown- the countdown
for the new year in Times Square. Phones, cameras, glow sticks, you name it
were being held up to the night sky. Sixty seconds- Lizzie Jo tried to call her
parents back in Missouri to include them on the countdown but was unable to get
a connection. 30 seconds- Lizzie Jo started to vocalize the count but felt
nauseous so she held off. 10 seconds- Lizzie Jo was counting now.
These were the ten seconds that over one million people-
strangers- had joined together to celebrate. It was an unreal ten seconds.
Lizzie Jo had always watched Dick Clark and the rest of Times Square count down
to the new year. It always looked so magical and mesmerizing and there she was,
finally apart of the Big Celebration. 3-2-1: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Lizzie Jo threw
her arms around her friends and reveled in the moment.
Almost immediately after the countdown the girls were ready
to evacuate their spot and find the nearest watering hole. That hole took the
form of a Cuban bar with a lot of dancing and balloons. After hydrating
themselves they took to the streets to journey back to Lu W’s apartment. It
took endurance and strength to baby step through the crowd, to accept the
closed subway, and to toss aside a hard ‘soft’ pretzel. It was not until a
fight broke out and people swarmed around to watch that Lizzie Jo, Julia, and
Briony were able to make a big advance in the direction they needed to go.
Again, they flew in and out of a sea of people, trash, puddles, conversations,
and confusion and somehow made it to an open subway station.
The subway proved to be a faithful friend by safely
depositing them at the correct stop. The three girls went to the market for ice
cream and sorbet before returning to the apartment. Once there, they collapsed
and purchased bus tickets back to Washington DC for the following morning. After
carefully removing her depend, Lizzie Jo wrapped it in a plastic bag and
dropped it in the trash. She was kind enough to take it out to the trash heap
herself in the morning after saying the final goodbyes. Finally the time had
come to turn out the lights on the Big Celebration. Lizzie Jo fell asleep with
visions of fireworks and confetti dancing in her head.
Acknowledgements:
I want to pay great tribute to Amanda J. Happy and Stephanie
D. Frazon for not only being fantastic friends, but for defending my silver
lining by accompanying me on a trip that allowed me to mark something off my
Life List and put order to some things that had fallen out of place. Another
hearty thanks to Lindsay and Luke Whorton for not only hosting, but for being
exceptional in their offerings. Cheers- here’s to life. And also to welcoming
2013 at home in my jammies.
“Fear is a friend who’s misunderstood, but I know the heart
of life is good.” –John Mayer
