@vltsra - I would never have thought that "getting away" was something I'd be able to do. And then it was announced that David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) was on tour and would be coming to Madison Square Garden in NYC. Darcey said, "You have to get tickets to this... whatever they cost and however you need to get them. If you can get tickets, we'll figure out the rest." She knew that I was a HUGE David Gilmour fan. I would never have suggested going... but she insisted... and insisted... AND INSISTED.
I talked with my son, Jim, who lives in Brooklyn and asked if he'd like to go, if... I was able to get tickets. I don't think he could have said "YES!" any faster than he did. And so ticket sales day arrived. Jim and I were both at our computers, ready to get in and buy a pair of tickets. If we both were able to buy tickets, we'd see which were the best seats and sell the other pair. Ready, set, GO!
The entire Madison Square Garden was sold out in less that 3 minutes. Jim was not successful buying tickets. But I was! I scored two great tickets. I... we... were going to see David Gilmour in concert in New York City! SUPER WOW!!!
So now, we had to figure out what we'd do. Or so I thought. Apparently, Darcey had been working on it already and had commitments from enough people to rotate in overlapping shifts, 24/7 for the 5 or 6 days that I'd be gone. All that was left was for me to get my train tickets purchased and to cycle all of our friends (who would fill in for me) through some home training.
Nobody could be more excited than me. Right?!? Wrong! Actually, DOUBLE WRONG! I would be seriously misleading if I didn't say how extremely excited Darcey was... for all that had happened up to this point... and for what was left to happen. She was excited for me and she was excited for herself. She had been searching for a "BIG GIVE" for me and this was definitely it.
To keep this from becoming another "JimInVA Novella", I'll summarize the rest. I had wonderful, peaceful and easy 8 hour train rides in both directions. The concert was every bit as awesome as I'd hoped it would be (and was for both of us). Jim gave me his bed in his apartment. And he took me to every favorite food place that he frequented in Brooklyn. I ate some amazing food. Jim wanted me to take back to his Mom (Darcey), just how well he was living, taking care of himself and eating.
On the home front, everyone arrived and did exactly what they signed up to do... and everything went without a hitch. Or that is what they told me. I wasn't aware of how good it is to get away until after I got back. Darcey was glad to have instigated "the event" and was elated to have me home again. As she would often say, "no one else does it quite like you". And me... I returned refreshed, relaxed and mentally/emotionally cleansed and recharged.
In summary, we both relived my short adventure many times after doing it. It was the source of many additional smiles.
My best...
Jim