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Take The Damn Cruise


Shhh, my sisters are asleep and snoring.  It’s only me still awake in this little Airbnb cottage by the sea.

We are here on a little escape – some sister time.  It’s happy, it’s scary, it’s sad.  Life changes when someone you love is seriously ill.  Priorities change.  Needs change.  But love stays solid. 

We had planned on going on a cruise.  Tried to plan it around treatments and doctor appointments.  But my sister Annette is weaker, and we weren’t sure being out in open water was a smart idea.  If she got sick on the boat, we would probably be tossed off in a port and hospitalized who knows where. 

So, we scraped the idea of a cruise. 

Then we went to a medium, who “spoke to our parents” from “the other side”, and they said (I paraphrase only slightly here): “TAKE THE DAMN CRUISE, GIRLS!”.  (The quotes above about “the other side” are by no means meant to belittle the messages we received or the messenger who delivered them – I went into the appointment a non-believer but came out feeling relieved to have been able to communicate again with my parents.)

Anyway, our parents told us (through the medium, who we do not believe knew we were planning a trip before we went…) to take the cruise.  And when your parents tell you to do something (maybe especially when they tell you to do something through a medium with an intriguing accent…) – YOU LISTEN!

But if we couldn’t take a cruise due to my sister’s fragile medical state, how could we TAKE A CRUISE???

The 3 of us were talking one evening, contemplating where we might be able to go to take a little vacation.  Somewhere warm.  Hopefully with a beach.  With good medical care should the need arise.  We were brainstorming, and Annette said, “How about the Outer Banks?”.  I live only a few hours from OBX (Arlington, VA), yet had never gone!  “Yes, let’s do it!  Perfect!” we all agreed.

But there was a problem…  The CRUISE…  We had wanted to take one, then were “ordered” by our parents (from the great beyond) to go for it.  So, before coming to OBX, we looked up DOLPHIN CRUISES.  They are 2 hour boat rides where you look for dolphins.  Sherry and I cried when we discovered the best ranked dolphin cruise in the OBX is named CAPTAIN JOHNNY’S.  You see, John/Johnny was our dad’s name (he died in November of 2018).  It just seemed so meant to be! 

But when we called 2 days before our flight to book a sail with Captain Johnny, it turned out the company was closed for the season.  Umm, season??  We hadn’t even considered season…  Dang it. 

We frantically did more calling around – another dolphin cruise closed for the year…  Then Sherry found one!  Kitty Hawk Kites had a sail available when we would be in town.  In fact, if we grabbed some tickets for the only day in town we had available, Thursday, we would be passengers on the last sail of the season.  Kismet!  Tickets for dolphin cruise booked – checked! 

Our trip so far has gone very well.  The sisters were all in Omaha so could fly together.  That helped a lot because with the 3 of us there is a lot of LUGGAGE, plus a wheelchair and “rollinator” (our fancy word for walker).  We had a long layover in Midway (Chicago) to relax, recoup a bit, eat, then board flight #2.  After a rental car flub up (the car company’s issue, not ours, but delayed us an hour or so), we got on our way.  We had dinner with great friends and checked into our cute Airbnb.  We are about a block and a half from the beach and the layout of the house is good for Annette getting around.

So today was the day of the cruise.  It has always taken us a bit of time to get everyone ready and out the door for anything, and these days it takes even longer 😊.  But we made it to the port on time with bellies full of fresh donuts.  The staff were super nice and helped Annette board with the wheelchair and get all set.


Then off we went!!  And as we pulled away from the dock, the captain spoke over the loud speaker and said, “Hello, welcome to the dolphin cruise.  I am your captain, Captain John…”.

I looked over at my sister Sherry, and she was crying. I tried hard to hold back tears.

Seeing the dolphins was an afterthought – icing on the cake at that point.

Because we were here – all 3 sissies.  On our cruise.  With John. 

And with the wind and the waves – that was all that mattered. 











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Comments

Steph CP said…
Yessssss!!!!!! ������ You're one of my favorite writers. You're such a great storyteller. I loved reading this, especially about Captain John. My dad's name is Johnny too. Sweet! Enjoy every moment. Love you all.
October 25, 2019 at 1:30 AM
Mindy L said…
Not sure how you held back tears, because I sure can't! <3
October 25, 2019 at 6:43 AM
Sherry Harrold said…
I’m soooooo glad we took our cruise. It was definitely meant to be....in every way.
October 25, 2019 at 7:28 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm crying and sooooo full of love with yiu all!!Go Thompson girls!!!
October 25, 2019 at 8:31 AM
Shelly G said…
This is a beautiful story! Just like you Thompson Triplets! xoxoxoxo Keep on sailin'
October 27, 2019 at 12:58 PM
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