This Hilary I want to see

There are so many people in New York City. So. Many. People. Running into anyone you know is a one in a million shot. Running into the person who gave you tickets you used on your first date, which led to you being in NYC to celebrate your 24^th anniversary – now, that’s got to be one in a bazillion.

My first date with Sean was June 21, 1989. (Yes, I’m aware that’s a long time ago.) And that date was made possible by Sean’s brand-new boss, Scott, who gave Sean tickets to a symphony pops concert that Scott and several other co-workers were attending with their spouses. Sean had just graduated from GMI (now Kettering) and had hired on with GM full-time. I’m the lucky girl who got to go along as his plus 1 for the outdoor concert. In Atlanta. In June. Did I mention it was outdoors?

The fact that I said yes to another date was a miracle. Thankfully date #2 was indoors…

Scott and Sean

Since that first date we've had many opportunities to interact with Scott and his lovely wife, Hilary. They hosted numerous work parties at their beautiful home and Sean worked for Scott for many years in Atlanta. He’s the boss I remember hearing the most about, the boss who helped shepherd Sean through his early years at GM. And he’s the man I always think of with great fondness for giving Sean the tickets that led to our first date.

So when we saw Scott and Hilary in NYC last week as we were celebrating anniversary #24, it just felt amazingly, wonderfully right.

Unfortunately, we ran into them as we were leaving the city and they were coming. But we had 30 minutes to catch up before our car picked us up to take us to the airport. And in those 30 minutes, Sean and Scott got caught up on their friends from Doraville and Hilary filled me in on the many volunteer projects she’s working on. And we had a few good laughs remembering that concert at Chastain Park Amphitheatre when we were all babies, 27 years ago.

Thanks for giving Sean those tickets, Scott!

Me with Hilary (yep - just one "l").

It was (mostly) wonderful

This weekend was a big one for my sister, Heather, and my niece, Megan. For Christmas, Heather gave Megan tickets to see Wicked in New York (hey, Heather – could you talk to Sean next Christmas for me?!) and this was the weekend Megan’s been looking forward to since December 25^th. And I’ve been looking forward to it for them!

Christmas morning!
(I just noticed the date on the ticket says 2/21 - guess that
got changed since they most definitely saw the show on 2/27!)

Unfortunately, all did not go as planned. Megan got the flu last Tuesday, putting their Thursday departure in jeopardy. Then Heather caught a bit of the bug, but both were bound and determined to leave the boys at home and have one short day (or three) in the magical city of New York.

Thankfully Megan was well enough for the plane trip and after spending all of Friday resting in the hotel room she was able to really enjoy the show Friday night. (Even if she didn't feel well going in, all the wonderfulness in the musical would surely cure her! I’m confident hearing Fiyero sing “Dancing Through Life” would cure me of a whole lotta yuck.)

They weren’t able to see the town as much as Heather would have liked – Megan just wasn’t quite up to it. But she saw Wicked, which was the whole point of the trip… I’m beginning to think I should get some kind of cut from ol’ Stephen Schwartz since, on my recommendation, at least 20 tickets have been purchased, not to mention several soundtracks. I’m sure he’ll get right on that.

And on Sunday, after so much of the weekend hadn’t gone quite as planned, Atlanta got two inches of snow and their flight from LGA to ATL was canceled. So they flew into Charleston, rented a car and drove home. Her car is still in Atlanta; Dad’s helping get it back to her, thank goodness. But when I talked to Heather late Sunday night she and Megan had the music cranked and they were, according to Heather, rocking the rental car.

I can’t wait to see the pictures!

Aunt Christy's contribution to the fun - a Galinda Popular shirt.