Sad day for O-heads

Aloha from Disney World! I know I’m in Orlando, Florida but the staff at our hotel keep saying “aloha” to greet us because we’re in the Moana area. I’m here with my eldest sister Meghan’s family, my mom and my other sister’s third born a.k.a. my nephew. I’m writing to you by the light of a reading lamp that pops out of the hotel bed frame on an angle, something my mom was impressed with when she came by to hug me goodnight. A personal flashlight that illuminates your side of the bed upon deployment? I think it really wowed her. And you know what? I think it’s cool as well. I would prefer the light be warmer in tone and less fluorescent, but believe it or not, I didn’t design this place.

If you want me to describe the nighttime sounds, and I think you do; it’s the gentle snore of my eight-year-old nephew just one bed over, the steady snore of my brother-in-law slipping through the ajar doors that connect our rooms, the blaring horn of the hotel water taxi behind our sliding glass door and the Background Sounds on my mom’s iPhone. I just taught her how to use that feature. Last night we were so tired from walking around the Disney parks that we fell asleep at 8 p.m. and were blasted awake by the firework show across the lake at Magic Kingdom. The Olympics are on our TV and my lil nephew fell asleep sitting up, watching curling… the perfect lullaby. My mom said, “he never snores!” so we gingerly shifted him down onto his back. He didn’t wake up because I think for his 8 year-old legs, today’s walking had to feel like ten miles. I just heard my sister sternly tell her husband to stop snoring despite his Breathe-Right Strip’s best efforts. She knows she can cross the adjoining door threshold and sleep in my bed but it’s B.Y.O.P. (and that stands for pillow).

This just in: it was not my brother-in-law snoring, it was his sister in the other bed. So I snuck over there and donkey kicked the end of her bed. It was effective because she stopped snoring as I quickly scurried back into my room, but as I climbed back under my covers, she was back at it. If you’re beginning to wonder how many people we have in these two hotel rooms, it’s more than the Bucket family, whom you may recall from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory story. We have five adults and two children taking over six beds. It’s very fun honestly and we’re saving a lot of money that can be put toward purchases of Nick Wilde (Zootopia) stuffies, Disney character pins, Stitch keychains and little Remy (Ratatouille) rats that “stick” to your shoulder or hat by way of a hidden magnet.

I’m not a Disney adult and there are a lot of aspects of Disney that rub me the wrong way but this trip is not about me. The impetus was to support my eldest nephew Reid who plays the bass drum in his high school marching band as a freshman. They were invited to march down Main St. of Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. He bussed down from Ohio with the band and stayed at a different hotel, so I only saw him once all week. He was walking past all of us in line for The Haunted Mansion. I saw him, stepped over the rope and bolted over. When he realized it was me, he gave me a side hug. Then he gave a nod to the rest of the family standing behind me in the distance. We’re glad he’s feeling his independence. The Haunted Mansion froze up a few times and I no longer find it scary.

The other reason for the trip was to celebrate my mom’s 75th birthday even though she doesn’t feel great about the big number, she told me this was her best birthday yet. You guys, she rode the Avatar ride, the Ratatouille ride, Seven Dwarves roller coaster AND Guardians of the Galaxy this week. The last one nearly made her barf and I felt so bad as I put a cold washcloth given to us by a “cast member” after getting off. She was trying to do it for the grandkids. My brother-in-law is an E.R. doc and explained something about pebbles in her ears being shaken up and needing to settle? Some motion-sickness medical information I didn’t retain. We gave her some Dramamine and I sat guard while she laid on the edge of the Epcot fountain.

My mom has mentioned not loving her neck as she ages, but whenever I look at my mom I always think she is so beautiful, I don’t notice her neck at all. So the challenge for me, as I see my face and neck change naturally with time, is to remember how I see my mom. I see her smile first, she glows. Her smile is so warm and her eyes crinkle. Time has changed her skin but not her beauty. She likes to wear makeup and do her hair really pretty, which I doubt I will have time or patience for in the coming years. She’s generous, silly and kind and I see that too, just looking at her.

It was also my 8-year-old nephew’s first trip to Disney. Wow was it special to see him experience the parks and Disney characters! His main goal was to meet Goofy, but Chip and Dale happened first. He walked away from that meeting saying, “Chip loved me!” and he asked me to send the photo to his mom and dad, which I did. He was just so thrilled so many times this week. That type of joy seems almost implausible because it’s been so long since I was eight years old and not having kids myself, I haven’t gotten that front row seat. But I know that I, too, believed in something the way he believes in Nick Wilde, Chip, Dale, Goofy, Mickey and the others. It’s just been a while.

My mom was walking by my side through Hollywood Studios and she asked,“Do you have bad memories here?” on our way to the Tower of Terror. She didn’t mean from the ride, she meant from our many court-ordered visits to see our dad and step-mom that truly should’ve never been granted. I said, “I mean nothing too bad?” But that’s when my sister chimed in reminding me of the time our step-mom threatened to leave me in the Disney parking lot and even did a little drive-away while I stood there. Meghan even suggested that we get me the seven dwarves bath set I wanted but was told I was “too old for that.” I'm actually very into re-doing cities and places where unhappy memories occurred. It’s safe to say the trip was healing (as pictured below). My sister got us matching Minnie shirts and the benefit was that we never lost each other that day.

Anyway, classic me, I’ve been putting off sending this to you for a few days therefore the Olympics were still on when I started writing it and now they are over. To fill the Olympic-sized void I’ve set sail with the This Is Important podcast boys and lots of Workaholics cast, crew and fans (including my boyfriend and Workaholics director Adam)! I’m sending this from the middle of the ocean! The Gulf of MEXICO to be exact.

And I’ll be in San Francisco March 4-7, 2026 at The Punchline again. I’d love to see you out there. After that it’s Charlotte, Stamford, Cincinnati, Iowa City and more!

Love,

Beth