GOT EEM!!!
At the beginning of the month, I surprised Daddy Dover with a Caribbean Cruise. As I've mentioned before, my dad was a Merchant Marine for 50 years so his sea legs are strong! I know he's missed the ocean since he's retired; so my brother and I thought, what better way to bring in a milestone bday than a return to the beginning?! My brother is an avid cruiser so with his help, we set up a quick trip and kept DD in the dark. He had absolutely no idea! I give him major props for being as compliant as he was. I fully expected him to make a big stink about getting on a plane without knowing the destination, but he was a trooper.
I think it was serendipity that our cruise ship's name was Victory because this birthday surprise was a super success!
Seeing him realize he was going to be at sea again was such a marvel. Seeing the genuine surprise and joy on his face made all the efforts worth it.
I'm really grateful to have been able to do something like this for my dad. He kept telling us it was the best birthday of his life. His ENTIRE life! That's pretty epic because my dad has been around the world 3 or 15 times and for him to say that at that specific moment, it was the best birthday of his life? Man...that got me right in the feels! Of course, I cried because well, I'm a sap.
As the trip progressed, we had long chats on the decks overlooking the sea and I learned so much more about my father. The open sea does that to you. Go sit in front of an ocean with someone and it just happens. Between the long pauses filled with sea gazing, you just start talking about what's really important.
Being face to face with it, you realize that the ocean thinks nothing of you. You are a speck in the grand scheme of things. Try it and let me know.
I know right now, it seems like the trend is "every trip is the turn up trip!" Every outing has got to better than the last, I have to disagree. There are some trips that need the absence of technology to a point. Phones are basically useless on the ships and it made the experience that much more special. Our phones were nothing more than glorified cameras and that was totally ok. I'm not going to go through every little thing that happened because A) it was a lot B) this trip was more about him than me, just a couple of kids doing something nice for their dad but he insisted I "put it on Squares! " and C) just trust me, DD had a good time, he's still giddy over it.
These are just a couple of flicks from the trip, I'll throw some more up once I go through Dad's phone, he doesn't know how to send them with his Iphone yet. He's too cute :)
xoSquared