No Room in the Inn and the Mother at the End of Her Rope

Our family looked forward to our first visit there 12 years ago on the day after Christmas, with great anticipation. After all, isn't it the epitome of every kid's dream? Isn't it every parent's desire to be able to take their children to Disney World? My parents were paying for the visit, as they did for all of the other grandchildren at the "appropriate age." We rented a cheap hotel for one night; two rooms for the seven of us.

We headed to Disney World early in the morning and by late afternoon, the lines were clogged. My parents were tired, so we agreed that I would go check them into the hotel for the evening, and then I'd return to the park to meet the family and spend the rest of the evening there. We agreed on a meeting time and place. I thought that meeting at 6:30 should allow me plenty of time to make the trip and get them settled into their room.

Traffic was horrendous and by the time I got to the hotel, the desk clerk said there was only one room reserved for us, and they had no more rooms in the inn. We were told that all the other nearby hotels were full. We would just have to "rough it" with all the kids on the floor. I fetched my parents some sandwiches and headed back to "Dizzy World".

By then, the traffic was almost at a complete standstill, and as the time approached to meet up with the family, I was past the point of crying. I knew there was no way I could get to the grounds, park, and get to our appointed meeting place by the agreed upon time. They would just have to wait. They wouldn't be happy, but what choice did I have? I turned on a music cassette and let "Peace Like a River" flood over my soul.

Meanwhile, my husband had heard an announcement that there were no more visitors being allowed into the park. They were full. He, too, started to panic. How would I get back in?

Finally I got to the gate and by then the flow of visitors had eased enough that they did let me in. But once on main street, I couldn't go anywhere! Crowds were lining up for the daily parade and it was quite impossible for me to move anywhere. By now it was more than 45 minutes past our agreed upon time. I couldn't cry now. They just had to wait.

Then I devised a path by snaking in and out of stores. With the crowds all out on the streets, if I could make my way into a store, I could traverse the width of the store in relative solitude, go out a side door, and then push my way through the crowd when on the street, gaining ground much faster. At long last, I was within sight of our meeting place. My husband was on the phone with a guard, saying they had to let me in. I hollered and flopped into the arms of my anxious family. We were all past being upset with the late hour and just glad to be reunited. For the rest of the evening, my husband made sure we held hands whenever we pushed through crowds so that no one got separated.

We tried to hurry to as many rides as we could in the waning hours. My oldest and her father could have kept going until 1:00 a.m., but finally I had had enough. I wanted to leave. I was exhausted. Father and daughter begged for one more ride. Suddenly I thought my purse was not in my hand. I lost my composure and had the closest thing to a panic attack I ever had- crying and hyperventilating on the street of Fantasyland. Then my middle daughter saw that my purse, rather than being in my hand, had simply slipped to the crook of my arm, and I didn't even realize it. Everyone tried to calm me down, and father and older daughter finally got the message that it was really, truly, time to take mother back to the hotel. My middle daughter kept saying, "Mommy, don't have a nervous breakdown!" I said, "I'm okay, I'm okay."

I do wonder if there was a point at which the pregnant, in-labor Mary, accompanied by her ever-loving but maybe overly ambitious and optimistic Joseph, just "lost it" in their search for lodging that eventful night. Most mothers will identify with my "losing it". We've all been there at one time or another. I'm sure that if Mary was angry with Joseph, perhaps later on it became one of those special family memories she "pondered" deep in her heart.

Every family has experiences like this- even (or maybe especially) during the Christmas holidays. Somehow, if we can survive them and live to laugh about them, we will treasure them in our hearts as part of what it means to be a family.

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Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org