Pen Pals - 2013 Style

"So, I'm off to meet this person I met on the Internet..."  While that might seem scary to most, it was a natural for me today.  I got to meet Denise from PA in person at our mutual happy place - Disney World!

Many people think that the Internet and other modern technology prohibit real human interaction.  Maybe they have a point.  Maybe people don't meet others like they used to.  For me, it's been a way to catch up with classmates I grew up with but haven't connected with since the 1970s.  I've learned a little bit of where they are today and what they're doing and who their families are.

I've also had the chance to meet people that I might never meet otherwise.  Such is the case with Denise.  She started reading my blog years ago when the girls and I blogged about a Disney cruise we were on.  Somehow through the years, she kept reading.  She also started commenting on my blog and then I started reading her blog - at least the parts I could understand.

See, Denise speaks another language - I call it quiltese.  In other words, she's a master quilter who quilts beautiful masterpieces when she's not cooking or decorating her house for holidays or working or probably promoting world peace.  I read her blog in quiltese and understand very little, but like a toddler, I like looking at the pictures.  Anyhow, in spite of this big difference, we have managed to bond over our common love of all things Disney (like cruises and DVC and hoarding Disney toiletries).

It just so happened that this weekend our respective Disney trips overlapped, albeit by about 24 hours.  She and her hubs came down last night for a pre-vacay before their Sunday cruise (nope, not jealous - much) and Molly and I are here for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler (yep - she is jealous I'm sure - and will probably cry herself to sleep tonight at 10pm while I am sweating and gearing up to attempt those 10 miles in the hot humid Florida weather).

Anyhow, we arranged to meet up at Ghirardelli for an 11am snack (think a chocolate liquid lunch).  As I rode the bus to Downtown Disney, I couldn't help but wonder would she like me, would she take one look and decide I wasn't what she expected, would we have anything to say past hello (yes, I am in middle school).  I needn't have worried at all.  After a hug and hello, we spent the next hour chatting like old friends.  She gave me a kleenex holder made from material from the Animator's Palate waiter's vests (if you don't understand the reference, you need to go Disney cruising). 

The moral of this story is that I never really did the pen pal thing. (If you are reading this and tried to pen pal with a girl from Mississippi in the 1960s - my apologies for never writing back).  But today I felt like those people who finally meet their pen pals.  It was the realization of a picture becoming real, of a voice becoming audible, and of a friend becoming ingrained in my heart.  What a magical day!!

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Today was a great day because I:  slept late-ish; met Denise and imbibed on Ghirardelli; got an Animator's Palate kleenex holder; had a late lunch at Big River