Our daughter Tiffany has been visiting from Arizona, and today is her last full day here. She leaves tomorrow morning to go home to her family, and while I know that her husband and kids are really looking forward to seeing her, we’re going to miss having her around.
Some of you may remember that Tiffany’s heart suddenly stopped a few years ago and we almost lost her. She was in a coma for a while but came back to us and now has a defibrillator implanted in her chest to keep things working properly. She is one of the nicest, happiest, most easy-going people you’ll ever meet in your life. She’s always got a smile on her face and is quick to laugh.
I’m not just saying that because I’m her dad, she really is. If anybody epitomizes the attitude of when life hands you lemons, make lemonade, it’s Tiffany. Well, most of the time. Maybe not when it’s real lemons that aren’t ripe yet.
I’ve been letting the fruit on our citrus trees grow, even though the folks at Lindley’s Nursery said to take the first crop off as it shows up to give the branches time to get stronger. I left them on so the kids could see them when they were here. I decided yesterday was a good time to go ahead and take them off and brought in the lemons, key limes, and tangelos.
Tiffany and I decided to see how they tasted. From the expressions on her face, you might guess that they were a bit tart.
Or this could be what happens when you open Mom and Dad’s bedroom door without knocking. As Tiffany says, sometimes what has been seen cannot be unseen.
She had a very different expression on her face while eating some of Terry’s homemade cinnamon rolls the other day. I think she liked those.
And I know she liked the lobster she ordered at Dixie Crossroads in Titusville the other day, too.
But it’s not all about eating. While son Travis and his wife Geli were here, the five of us went out to Ferry Trail in Cassadaga. I wrote about the park in a previous blog post, and I knew the kids would all enjoy it.
Monday, we drove up to Saint Augustine, taking US Highway 1 to give Tiffany the most views of the ocean and beach along the way. We were looking forward to touring the Castillo de San Marcos and taking her for a stroll down Saint George Street, but the traffic was absolutely horrendous and there was no place to park anywhere in the area. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the city that busy.
We did pull into the parking lot at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, and I took a picture of Tiffany with this sculpture of a stallion made entirely from car bumpers from the 1950s and 60s. It was created by artist Sean Guerrero to celebrate the Denver Broncos’ 1987 Super Bowl appearance.
I’m not sure what we have planned for today. An old friend of Tiffany’s from over in the Tampa/Saint Petersburg area is coming to visit her, and since she can never get enough seafood, Terry is planning to make her delicious homemade shrimp and grits for dinner. That’s always a favorite, and we figure if we keep feeding Tiffany enough good food, she might be tempted to come back again soon.
Thought For The Day – My kid has turned out just like me. Well played, karma. Well played.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Our son had the same experience as your daughter back on election day 2008. Out of the blue he went into sudden cardiac arrest. By luck his wife was home from work due to it being election day and was able to perform CPR on him until the medic unit arrived to take over. After running a number of test to find out the cause of the arrest, they could not find anything. As a precaution he was implanted with a pacemaker/defibulator. He has been doing well ever since and continues to do his job as a Flight Paramedic. Glad to see the your daughter is also doing well.
The next time you go to Orlando stop in bar harbor seafood on premiere Avenue . But you have to get there early it’s a retail wholesale store .. Lobster is seven dollars apiece already cooked You can get as many as you want you just have to be there at 10 / 10:30o’clock when they open up that’s about the best time
It is a togo retail market you can check them online