Day 20: Finding Our Smiles

“There you are, Peter!”

– Hook  

The line references a beautiful moment in the movie Hook, where one of the Lost Boys is touching Robin Williams’ face and searching for the boy he once knew. When he stretches his face into a smile, he exclaims “There you are, Peter!” Jared and I always cry. And, we always say this to one another when things have been really tough and then, finally, a smile is found. We were able to share a few “There you are, Peter” moments today. 

So, last night we split a hotel room (even more room than the RV!). The idea, when we booked it, was to be able to watch the game together and only spend $ on one room. Then, we’d move into 2 rooms the next day. 

Now on our own time, Jared got work done and I took Rudy to the pool. It was heated to 85°! Rudy and I spent about 45 min in the pool and then headed up to nap and shower. 

The rest of the night was spent apart with our individual families, recharging, and trying to feel like normal people for a bit. 

The Fredeens found a brewery near our hotel with no food, but an amazing view and plenty of space for the boy to run around. There were other kids there and they quickly took up a game of chase. There was a small waterfall and a stage built into the back of a Studebaker truck. Rudy climbed onto the the stage and broke Jared and I down to tears with a quiet and sweet two-year-old’s rendition of “You Are My Sunshine”. When he got to the line “You’ll never know dear, how much I love you”, I was certain that we’ve done everything right for him, despite our worries and stress of the past few days. 

Our evening was completed at a small Italian joint with flavorless pasta and over-salted pizza and yet, to us, it was all delicious! Grateful for the respite, we headed back to the hotel to share some ice cream and watch the original Peter Pan. Today, we didn’t have to grow up. Tomorrow, we’ll head to San Luis Obispo, play a killer show and hit it reality hard again. But til then, “what a day this has been!”