The Happiest Place on Earth

Any week that involves a trip to Disneyland has got to be a good week. I love Disneyland, and have some amazing memories there, but this is now one of my favorite D-land trips ever, all thanks to the people I went with.

Best Buddies was able to get less than half price tickets as a special "community involvement" deal from Disneyland. I think this is kind of the same deal as "Happy Hearts Days" when I was little. (If you presented a doctor's letter that mentioned a disability, you could get discounted tickets, this usually was in February) I was worried that the day might be a little hectic thanks to my Spanish class at 1:30, nice and in the middle of the day, but I really feel like I got a good, full D-land day.

My favorite part of the day was watching and interating with the buddies. Their excitement and happiness at being at Disneyland was one of those contagious, warm fuzzy feelings inside, like when you watch babies smile and laugh or see kitties playing. A couple favorite Kathleen moments from the day: as we passed the Blue Bayou "Oh, that looks like such a nice evening atmosphere" and while waiting to go on Nemo she was entirely overjoyed to see a pink autopia car.

I also got to interact a lot more with some of the other buddies than I have at other events. Valerie is very outgoing and friendly with everyone. She's met Valencia before and made it a point on Thursday to keep an eye out to help me, knowing that I don't see well. Upon thanking her at one point she responded with a comment to the effect of "People have to look out for each other."

Michelle is Jessica's buddy, and I have talked with her at several of the last buddy events. She makes it a point to talk with everyone and is often quite persistent with questions. Later in the day when a few of the girls had to head back for class, Jessica went to transfer some things from their car to hers. In her absence Michelle adopted me as her buddy. We went on the Matterhorn and Alice in Wonderland together, and when she and Jessica were leaving she gave me a hug.

There's so much you can learn from the buddies about really loving people and finding joy in the little things in life. I feel so blessed to be able to get to know these people and feel so excited about continuing to work with people with disabilities. For me I don't know what could be more rewarding.

The end.