This is Mom's month, and this story's humor kinda rests on dad. But it (and the sequels) have some of my favorite Mom memories...
One of my brothers had gotten involved with a Thai girl. This is (usually) not a Good Thing. But mom was supportive...
When the relationship (and everything attached to it) came apart, mom flew out to Thailand to try and talk sense into my bumbling sibling.
And proceeded to fall in love with the country. She and dad went back many times: although airfare can be pricey, it's still a fairly cheap vacation. In 2002, she and dad took Spoon and I. Total price was around $7K (airfare, lodging, food and bric-a-brac for four people for 17 days). And WHAT a trip!
First off: dad doesn't really fly well. Not that he's afraid of flying, or anything: he just doesn't enjoy it. First thing he does, is pop a Valium (so he can sleep). He then forgets about it, and proceeds to pop another.
We were SOMEWHERE over the Pacific when the lil' box lunch came, and dad "discarded" what he didn't like.
By tossing it on the floor.
Mom was, to put it mildly, unamused. At this point, she starts trying (unsuccessfully) to confiscate his remaining valium...
Then he wanted a drink, but didn't want to take the cookie out of his mouth. Made sense to try and suck tea out of the bottle through his nose, right?
Mom was NOT happy. While Spoon and I tried desperately not to laugh, we watched mom give serious consideration to widowhood...
We land in Japan: only a couple more hours to the Land of Smiles. Quick potty stop: the facilities are located down a flight of stairs, which means we take it in shifts (one of us has to stay with doped-up-dad, and keep him from sliding down that stairway). We get through that challenge...
And mom looses her passport.
Ever try explaining to an irate 5' nothing Italian woman that she is NOT, in fact, wandering around the airport looking for her passport (without which, she could easily be thrown in jail)? Not an easy proposition! Thankfully, the airport personnel manage to locate it, and it's waiting at the gate of our flight...
Tense couple of minutes there
Sooo... we board. I'd say happiness ensues, but have you ever flown economy for almost 24hrs straight? NOT my preferred method of torturing myself...
From Japan to Thailand was fairly uneventful: dad slept, mom stewed, and Spoon and I watched an inflight (don't remember what now). And then, we touched down...
We're there: the Land of Smiles. The first time (not counting the short layover in Japan) Spoon had ever been out of the country...
More later!
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4 comments:
Sounds like a cool trip. I would have to take a valium too. Flying is pure hell for me.
7k for all that is a killer deal.
I hope you tell more about that trip sometime. It sounds wonderful!
Darn it, Strings. Now you've got MY mother visiting in my dreams! It was certainly wonderful to see and talk to her again, though. So, thank you too!
Bro,
You've got me beat in spades. I've never been more than one time zone away in my life...
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