|
Ele_Mentality
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Jonathan
Location: Saint John's, Canada
Gender: Male
Interests: Music - Drums, Guitar, and of Course Listening.Bands - Taking Back Sunday, Hawthorne Heights, From Autumn To Ashes, My Chemical Romance, The Used, Teitur, The Postal Service, Death Cab For Cutie.Food - Italian, Mexican and Don Cherry's Wings!Fun - Doing Stupid things that don't make sense, just for the fun of it.
Expertise: - Doing the Unmentionables
Occupation: Student
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
4/7/2004
|
|
| It all started on the morning of our second full day on the cruise. At 8:50am Miami time, Monday, June 29th, 2009, my mother contacted me to inform me that after an almost 2 year battle with pancreatic cancer, my father had finally passed away. And to think, i almost never answered the phone because i simply thought it was our wake up call.
Upon receiving this notification, amongst the rush of emotions, frustrations and the instinctive panic that rises up in you, i took steps to contact my travel agent to make arrangements to get home. Between myself, my new bride, and my mother we decided it would be better to stay on the boat one more day and fly out from Grand Cayman the next day, in order to shorten our trip home.
After finalizing travel arrangements, amy and I decided to make the best of the last day of our honeymoon. As our cruise ship was docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, we deemed it necessary to at least see the renowned island. Upon exiting the ship we were immediately hounded by locals about every tourist-based endeavor available. Between taxis, Bob Marley's house, Dunns River, Hair-braiding and partaking in any type or amount of drug, we were hounded by at least 25 - 30 locals. Our goal was to go lay out on the beach, however, all the local beaches were unaccessible via partitions by either a large resort, local buisnesses or areas that were generally "off-limits".
We were off the boat and back on the boat in 30 mins. This included trying to eat at the Hard Rock Ocho Rios, which we were informed that the restaurant does not open, only the bar, and buying souvenirs.
That evening we filled out the required paperwork to disembark the ship the next day. The next day we dock at Grand Cayman, in the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman was one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. Miles and miles of open beaches, amazing shopping, and polite locals. Unfortunately we walked through the waterfront accompanied by the ever-accommodating carnival staff, got on a taxi and went straight to the airport. We checked in for our flights ($2600 for 2 people, one way from Grand Cayman to St. John's, luckily i had travel insurance) 3 hours early, and got our bags tagged for Montreal (Grand Cayman - Miami - Montreal - St. John's) where we would take them through Customs.
Upon arriving in Miami, and taking our bags through american customs, we had a 6 hour stopover before our next flight. This gave me enough time to go deal with Budget car rental, concerning getting my rental car returned. I went down to the Budget counter in the airport to find no one available, but merely instructions on how to take a bus to get over to the budget terminal. We took the bus to the terminal, and upon arriving at the terminal explained my situation to manager. He then informed me that i would have to pay for a tow truck to go get the car and bring it back to Budget. After a heated discussion, taking the managers name and info, leaving $55 and the keys for the rental car for Ed's tow truck service we headed back to the terminal to wait for our flight.
After 5 hours of waiting they informed us our flight would be delayed 2 hours. After 2 more hours of waiting, they informed us our flight was cancelled. Next was to wait in line at the Gate for another hour to get printed coupons for a hotel and food for the night in Miami, and to get re-booked for the next day through Toronto onto St. John's. Proceed outside, wait for 40 mins for our transit to the hotel.
The next morning we get up, get ready (with the little we had available in our carry-on) and head to the airport again. We check in for our flight (which the girl had not done properly the night before) and head to our gate. We then finally leave Miami (after already traveling the better part of 24 hours) and finally fly to Toronto.
We arrive in Toronto, of course to find out that our bags are somewhere between Miami and St. John's, but most likely in Montreal. After explaining to customs why we weren't taking any baggage through customs, we then head to the Air Canada service desks and cut line to get our boarding passes for our flights back to St. John's.
We finally arrive back in St. John's at 8:00pm on Wed, July 1st. Get a taxi to our apartment, pack clothing and leave to drive to Bishops Falls. We arrive in Bishops Falls at 1:30 in the morning, and finally get to bed around 2:30am.
As a family we get up at 9am on Thursday the 2nd of July to go view the body of my Father. At 2:00pm we finally lay to rest the body of a man who has taught me as best he could, how to be a man. He continued to breath and fight the cancer for as long as he could, in order to see his son married, and with that he was at peace.
This is how i recommend you not spend your honeymoon,
Jon (and Amy)
| | |
| List of things "Not To Do":
1. Go on your Honeymoon when your father is terminally Ill.
2. Go to Jamaica and wander around like an obvious tourist on the morning you find out your father has passed away.
3. Go to Miami.
4. Have your flight from Miami to Montreal delayed for 2 hours and then cancelled, layover in Miami over night and be 8 hours later than expected getting home, from a Honeymoon that you cut in half.
List of things "To Do":
1. Go To Grand Cayman!!!
2. Purchase Travel Insurance Always.
3. Have as many groomsmen and bridesmaids as possible.
4. Follow in your Fathers Footsteps.
This may not be the healthiest way of venting, but it's my way.
More details to come,
Jonny,...in mourning. | | |
| I have only just now realized that i have abandoned good ol' xanga at some of the most important times of my life. I got engaged back on this past New Years eve, and am getting married in less than four weeks.
Two weeks ago, my fiance and I, were out at my parents house visiting. During our visit my mother encouraged me to go through my old belongings, and decide what to keep, and what was fair game for the trash. There is something incredibly vindicating about feeding your fiances' dog the stuffed animals that were once treasured gifts from (ex)girlfriends that carried emotional significance.
3 Weeks and 4 Days. Beautiful.
The game is over.
I won.
Jonny. | | |
| That book,...
....the one above right there. The title "The Gospel According to Starbucks" could be interpreted in any number of ways. For examply, I did not know what to expect when diving into this new literary adventure. What i expected was the possibility of a artsy-fartsy attempt at religious life with a side of self-improvement and an aftertaste of acquired self-enlightenment. I was right, for the first couple of chapters anyways.
This book however, has served as a surprise in the least. It speaks blatantly against luke-warm churches, against self-improvement as an alternative option to chasing after God, and educates about truth and beauty.
This book has pried my eyes open to a concept that i should have grasped long ago. It teaches about Beauty in it's truest form. It speaks about how celebrities with their personal trainers and their plastic surgery are pretty and not beautiful in the least. He speaks about paintings by Thomas Kinkade and how no matter how much glory it displays is still not beautiful, but merely pretty. The author states that most of the pretty things in the world are not beautiful because they are a Lie. They don't tell the truth, they present a false truth in the name of saving face, and dwelling in an ideal existence.
The next step in this comparison is speaking of the symbol of the cross. How the cross is not pretty but is beauty in it's truest form. The cross is beautiful because it tells a whole truth, the dirty truth, the brutal truth of how we are all sinners and God paid the price of allowing his son to suffer in Human form to shed his blood to give us an infinitesimal number of chances to screw up.
There was another section of this chapter that tells about "pretty people". He says that some people are so physically beautiful that they don't bother to develop a personality. That led me to my girlfriend. It got me to thinking about how beautiful she is. Not because she's a personal trainer with wicked abs, not because she's got awesome style, and not even because her hair is so long that it seems to go on forever. She is beautiful because she is truth. She tells me like it is, and still accepts me for who I am. She puts up with all my shit, and never once has she rejected me or not had my back. She is beautiful because she wasn't created flawless, not even in my eyes, she has flaws that i like, because they make her unique. She is beautiful because she is true. She's the real thing.
I know that's a thick piece of meat,...
but chew on it a little while and if you cared to read this jibberish...hit me back.
Jonny, the fearfully and wonderfully made.
| | |
| It,...
...happens all too often in life that we lose people that are the closest to us. We lose them to other people, places, careers and even death.
I have the impending loss of a dear friend coming on, and I am already mourning the loss of our times together. It is true that since I have acquired myself a lovely girlfriend, I have not been the type of friend I should be, but sadly such is life. Life calls for priorities, and we as lonely people are quite happy to oblige.
Truth of the matter is this. I’ve had two female best-friends in life. The original I lost some time ago. Lost to school, and career, and another boy, who has better hair than I ever could. I love her and miss her, and she knows. Life changes people, and that’s ok. It’s ok.
It sucks that I have to do it again, but our time has come. She knows I’ll miss her, and that’s ok. It in no way takes anything away from how much I appreciate and value my girlfriend, cause that’s what being mature allows you to do. Allows you to become more comfortable with who and what you are.
I will miss another. Here’s too all the ones that have gone on before, and to the ones that I’ll lose in the future, and even, to the ones that have lost me,…cause sometimes we don’t see that side of the fence.
| | |
|
