Love Lights & the Fourth of July

The sky was exploding with lights, and my heart was overflowing with the warmth that comes with being surrounded by people who have known me my whole life, people who I love and who love me. We all crowded out on Dawn’s balcony on the 18th floor and watched the fireworks—the show was actually not as spectacular as last year when we watched from a friend of Dawn’s apartment six floors down (Dawn had not yet bought her condo then, though I’m sure watching the fireworks from that vantage point figured into her decision to buy), but the special day with family made that not matter so much. For almost a year, since she’d moved in, Dawn had been planning a huge 4th of July party at her condo, and it turned out to be just what she’d hoped it would be.

Here’s the party in high gear, as seen looking from the kitchen into the living room and out to the city skyline beyond. Note the raspberry/blueberry “champagne” glasses, which would be filled later on in the evening. A nice touch to the evening courtesy of Jim, Dawn’s wonderful boyfriend.

I made two apple pies (unfortunately they weren’t my best pies—the crust wasn’t as light and flaky as it should have been). Babs made chili. Dawn provided hot dogs, red potato salad, and corn on the cob. We swam in the pool a couple of times throughout the day, lounged in the lukewarm Jacuzzi. At around 2:30 we all rushed upstairs to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch. We watched the countdown on TV and then rushed out to the east side balcony to watch it shoot like a flare into the sky. I was surprised to find myself a little moved by the sight of the bright flame and the stream of white smoke representing the small group of brave men and women hurtling into space. It seemed somehow very American, what they were doing, something very appropriate to Independence Day, and as I watched the shuttle go I felt a strange sense of patriotism.


Guests arrived between 4:30 and 6:00. They included Dawn’s remarkably good looking and trendy friends—Selena, Cara, Jade (whom I’d last seen exactly a year ago in this same building on the 4th) and her boyfriend. Krishna and her man arrived at the figurative “9:55” just as the first fireworks lit up the sky. One friend of mine, Greg, was there as well. He’s spent so much time with the Thomson clan this summer, he’s almost become an honorary family member! (There is one picture of our Fourth party with him in it, but I can’t post it because he refuses permission for his picture to be put on the web! I don’t know what secrets to his identity he has that might be dug up by an intrepid web investigator but they won’t be revealed here!) And of course there was family—just about everyone except for my cousin Landon who had to work, his sister Nicole who was in Michigan just weeks from giving birth, and Jill, my cousin Nabih’s wife and their daughter (who would be arriving from Colorado the next day.

The late afternoon passed into evening with people swimming at the pool, hanging out on the balcony, and lounging in the living room as Jason Mraz, Keahwahi, and (as shown in this photo)Diana Krall Live in Paris on DVD played in the background.

Nabih had the latest, sleekest version of the PSP, and he and his cousin Glenn huddled in a corner playing intently (see below).

As the sun sank below the horizon, we all moved towards the balcony, jockeying for the best spots along the railing. Here’s Babs silhouetted against the darkening sky and the city lights,
My cousins, siblings (foreground to back) William, Yvette, and Nabih waiting for the light show to begin.
It seemed every west side balcony was filled with those lucky enough to have family or friends living in the building. From our vantage point we could look out at the fireworks, and down upon the huddled masses in the jostling, sweating crowd all along the banks of Lake Eola.

The fireworks were spectacular of course—here’s Babs and I (more silhouette than actual portrait) with the fireworks lighting up the sky behind us, but best of all was the love light all around us, those of you so far from us for so much of the year, now near and “shining like stars in the summer night.”


The remaining days in Orlando passed quickly. Wednesday we did a little shopping—actually Babs did—mom and I sat in the car and talked while Barbara browsed Barnes and Nobles and the Lifeways Christian Bookstore. Then we went to Long’s—every summer we make the pilgrimage to Long’s Christian Book Store, the biggest Christian bookstore we’ve ever been to. While Barbara conducted her annual search for Christmas cantatas, Mom and I browsed the Christian fiction shelves finally settling on a book, Eli, that we’d read together. Look for our soon to begin ongoing discussion on the book on the Maycock Media Mix page.

When our shopping was concluded (the book mom and I bought ended up being the only purchase of the afternoon) we drove back to Mom’s place to say goodbye to grandma, and then over to Uncle Roland and Aunt Colleen’s house to say goodbye to them. Lucky for us Landon was there too, so we got to see him briefly. We looked at Aunt Colleen’s fascinating collection of photos she’s received from celebrities including Bill Cosby, Ronald Reagan, Mary Tyler Moore, Julie Andrews, and many others. I also came away with some new music—Uncle Roland burned me a copy of his Matt Bianco CD.

After that we went back downtown to meet Dawn for a late supper at Dexter’s, yet another trendy downtown eatery. But I judge a restaurant by its food, not by the pretentiousness of its clientele, and the food was excellent.


Thursday, Babs and I spent our final full day of vacation doing exactly that—vacationing, lolling about Dawn’s fantastic apartment, watching her massive plasma flat screen TV, gazing out at the cityscape, just soaking in the luxury of it. The photo of me above is pretty much what I did for most of the vacation!

In the evening we were supposed to go to my cousin William’s house. We called his wife Mara around six, foolishly thinking that an investment banker who is raking money in hand over foot would be off work by that time. As it was, he had a meeting that lasted until after 8. Despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to get together with him, and in the end our Last Supper in Orlando was at Chari’s (sp?), a trendy sushi joint around the block from Dawn’s condo. Babs and I shared it with William’s wife Mara, William’s sister Yvette, Dawn & her boyfriend Jim. Some pics of that below.

Mara, our "cousin by marriage"
(William's wife), Me, and Barbara







Friday morning, mom came over, we had breakfast together, and then loaded up the car and it was off to the airport, our sojourn in Florida come to an end. It seems like no matter how long I visit in Florida, it’s never long enough, and it gets harder to say goodbye every year. In the past, we’d pop down to Orlando for maybe a week or ten days and I’d always leave wishing I could stay longer. Now the visit has extended to over three weeks, and the leaving is harder still. I must confess I was pretty depressed upon my arrival in Ohio yesterday (though I was happy to see Barbara’s parents, of course). Though I’m feeling better today, I still miss my family a lot, and a year seems like a long time to wait. But I’ve made a commitment to more regular communication with all of you, and perhaps that will make the distance seem a little smaller.

Some faces I will miss:
Dawn, thanks for being such a gracious host (and being patient with me messing up your place). It was so nice to spend some quality time and I'll always treasure those great late-night brother/sister chats we had. I love you!

Jim, you gained something very valuable this summer. The Big Brother Seal of Approval. Take care of my sister, ya hear.

Yvette, I enjoyed all our "book" talks--let's continue to stay in touch this year.


Bambu! Dawn's charming Daschund, and Kimo's "cousin"