The one regret I had in life was not being able to afford to take him to meet any of his hero's. We managed concerts and movies but he really wanted to go to Disney to meet Mickey. A couple years ago I decided I needed to make it happen. He wasn't a kid anymore, not numerically but he was Kelly, to him age doesn't matter. So the research started and the saving. I discovered that a Disney Cruise had all the things I was looking for in a Disney trip but was a great deal more affordable. It was still going to take some work, but I could make it happen.
As the trip approached I think some of my friends began to avoid me. I was incapable of talking about anything else. If the situation were reversed I may have done the same. Personally I really didn't believe it was going to happen. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I didn't get that it was really happening until we were in the Port Building and Kelly and I had reached the front of the line to finally meet Mickey Mouse.
The trip was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced. Nothing would have made it more perfect. Kelly being Kelly, made friends everywhere we went. While Dad and the other two kids played on the ship, Kelly and I waited in line-up after line-up to meet his favorite characters. To many this may seem like a horrible experience, but not with Kelly. He made friends in every line-up, whether it was the cast member "working" the line or the people waiting behind us. I say behind us because he was most often first in line. Many of them were as dedicated to the characters as Kelly, and lots of them were not kids. This young man to whom patience is a foreign thing waited for hours in line over the course of our time on board.
It was during one of these visits that his favorite character changed. Never in a million years could I have predicted what would happen on the first day of the cruise. You see this was the day he met Minnie. Well, actually Princess Minnie. He had met several other characters the day before and the meeting with Mickey brought met to tears. He kept asking when we were going to see Minnie. So early the next morning after we had docked at Nassau we waded through the throngs waiting in the atrium to meet the Princesses and made our way to the balcony to meet Minnie. You could almost see the little floating cartoon hearts around his head. In a matter of seconds you could see the change.
She became his "sweetheart". Over the next few days we went to every Minnie meet and greet there was. Soon Minnie and the gang loved Kelly as much as the rest of us.
I had an idea of what it meant, but just like when I was planning this trip I was afraid to believe it would really happen. Upon arriving at the chosen location we were greeted by the character manager. She greeted us then told us what \I already knew. Kelly had done it again, he had convinced and entire cast of people to fall in love with him and moments later that entire cast of people came through a door in the side of that room to greet us. You see, they had chosen our family out of the over four thousand passengers on the ship as their favorite family. We were being treated to a rare experience. Fifteen minutes with the entire cast. Seeing my daughter surrounded by Princesses who were making her feel like the most special girl in the world. Watching Kiernan being goofy with... well Goofy and Pluto. The smile on Kelly's face as he is surrounded by his friends. Being hugged personally by each and every cast member. There are no words in the English language to describe that feeling. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This one only says three... Everybody Loves Kelly
"Everybody loves Kelly" is a phrase I have said many times in my lifetime and I know I will say it many more.
