06 October 2009

Never run out of wishes

There is a thought among those of us who spend vast amounts of time at, or thinking about, Walt Disney World that it is possible to run into a friend, old roommate, or neighbor years after they have left your life in Walt Disney World by pure coincidence. After all, Walt Disney World is one of the most popular vacation spots in the world and magic happens there all of the time. It is with this thought in mind that I relate to you this story from my most recent trip.My friend Tony and I had planned on meeting for breakfast on the last morning of my trip. We knew we would see each other before then as we share friends and had several events that we were attending together. It should be mentioned here that while Tony and I had become fast friends via email and other sources, we had never met in person.On the first night of the trip my wife was spending some quality girl time with some friends of ours. With time on my hands, I camped out along the Magic Kingdom’s Hub and prepared for Wishes. I had an amazing time chatting with the three families who happened to be camped out around me as we awaited the beginning of the spectacular. Just prior to the beginning of the show a dad, with his child perched upon his shoulders, moved into the Hub about fifteen feet away. While going through my photographs that night I found that I had inadvertently caught the child in my pictures. It was a wonderful event, for me, to capture a piece of the magic as it were.The next day, Tony and I finally caught up to one another and discussed how we had been no more than twenty feet away from each other the night before and hadn’t even realized it. Slowly the idea began to wash over me that, just maybe, it had been Tony and his son that had found their way into my photographs. The remainder of the weekend went on, and if Tony and I had been friends before we met, we only further fastened those connections by the end of the trip. After returning home, I sent Tony the series of photographs. After sharing them with his wife, Tony told me that they were almost certain that the pictures were of his son.It was happenstance that we both happened to be in the Hub at the same time, and even more of a fluke that I caught a wonderful family moment, but I couldn’t be happier with the fact that I captured a moment and that I was able to share it with a friend. It may have been a fluke, but for those that believe in the magic of a moment and the magic of Disney, is it really any wonder that we happened upon each other just as the night sky was lit upon with the power of all of our wishes?