The Journey of Gus and Sam

So I've been helping Cynthia Hart prepare to open her new restaurant... We're less than a week away. Here's some pics:

As people get older, you always hear them say: "time goes so fast!" or "where has time gone?"

I never really understood this phenomenon, until recently, which I guess, automatically makes me old.

Maybe it's all in our heads. Or maybe we work too hard and play too little. Maybe we're just tolerating life, which makes us skim through each day with a depleted sense of awareness. Either way, somewhere between the playground and cubicles, between seemingly endless summer vacations (remember when 3 months was like an eternity) and daily planners, we experience an abnormal sense of time acceleration, often losing track of our actual age..."how old am I this year? Let me subtract..."

This picture was taken almost one year ago. To me, it seems like yesterday. Can we slow time down? Is there a way to keep it from moving so fast?

I think so.

What happened to you the night before Christmas, as you laid in bed waiting for the brightness of the morning light like a green flag waving you towards the unwrapping of your presents?

You tossed and turned. You couldn't fall asleep. Your eagerness made each second seem like an eternity. Your anticipation of tomorrow made time slow to a slug's pace.

Try it. Maybe the tricks of our youth will combat the mentality of our aged minds. Anticipate tomorrow with all of its possibilites as you lie in bed tonight. At the very least, maybe it'll feel like you slept longer, and the time between hitting the snooze and the buzzing alarm will seem like an eternity...

So this was my first encounter with Samantha's dad's side of the family. Despite her warnings, nothing could have prepared me for the most enjoyable ensuing chaos.



First off, let me state that during our trip to Wisconsin over Thanksgiving, I thought Samantha might have some adventures dealing with our crazy family nuances. I now understand that her experience was merely a fraction of comforts to family affair for her...

Fortunately, Sam's brother-in-law, Timm, was there to help me process the event.

I must say, I was more than warmly greeted by the family as a whole. Lots of hugs, kisses and smiles. So many faces, so many names, it was hard to keep track...




Uncle Felix is such a kind and generous man, he hosted the entire Christmas extravaganza. His kitchen became our "Grand Central" as most of the activity was over food and drink. If we weren't cooking and eating, Matt and Ray were mixing drinks. If that neither was occuring, people were laughing, telling stories and fondly remembering others.


Seriously, for the average person, there's what is called "the seven minute rule". This states that conversations usually "lull" every seven minutes... you know, that time when an awkward silence falls upon all until someone brilliantly introduces the next topic of discussion. That NEVER seemed to happen with this bunch.

Now I can hold my own in any social situation, yet I was mystified and thoroughly entertained by this new found family. Most of the time, I sat with a smile on my face relishing in the maniacal, frantic exchanges.

Christmas Eve, we headed to midnight Mass. I was surprised at how many other people went to church that late in the night. Afterwards, the social interaction went into high gear, music cranked and dancing. We were up until 3:30am.

Christmas morning, I could hear laughter down the stairs. It was only 8:15am... I was so tired, but who wants to miss out on that??? So I dragged myself out of bed to get in on the action.

Breakfast needed to be made and Matt, our host with the most, was still unconscious. So I grabbed some tools and whipped up some gourmet eggs and bacon. We ate, talked and laughed our way unto 4 o'clock. Then it was time to start showering and primping for the Christmas celebration.



Everyone was decked out in formal affair as even more people poured through the door to join us. We gathered in the basement amongst long tables, traditional Haitian food and Christmas decor galore. It was a celebration!!!

Afterwards, we all went upstairs to the living room where we met Santa. Uncle Felix came in with his red suit and hat, it was tradition, it was family. As "Santa" called out names, one by one, each present made its way from under the tree to someone's hands... some of the presents only wrapped for a few minutes prior to being received. ; )

When the presents were all done, the socializing continued until 3:30am once again.




At 8am, the same deliberation... I had to get in on the fun. To my surprise, Samantha was already down there. These folks are crazy fun!!!

It was sad to say goodbye to all of these new faces, but we'll get to see them again. Next year!?!?!?

When we got to the airport, our flight had been cancelled. So, courtesy of Delta, we had a vacation from our vacation and spent the night at JFK for a full night's sleep before heading home.

It truly was a memorable and more than enjoyable Christmas. A huge "thank you" to my new family, especially Uncle Felix and Auntie Marva!!!

This past week, Sam and I went to New York City to spend the holiday with her dad's side of the family. We arrived on Saturday, Dec. 23rd and headed immediately down to Times Square. Samantha's sister had seats for us to join them at the musical, Beauty & the Beast - with Donny Osmand as Gaston!!!

It was an amazing show...

We got something to eat at Ollie's Chinese restaurant and then headed over to Rockefeller Center. We waited for an hour and a half to actually skate on the rink which was easy given the 54 degree evening. The Christmas tree was all lit up, thousands of people bustled aroung the rink and lights all around ignited the sky with wonder and allure.

It was a magical night.

Once we were on the rink, I finally got an opportunity to pick up on a conversation that Samantha and I had been having for the past couple of weeks. As we talked, I positioned us into the middle of the ice rink to make my move.

As we talked, I got down on one knee and asked Samantha Delgadillo to marry me.

At first, she was taken back, eyes welling up with tears. That is until everyone around us stopped skating and the entire crowd around us broke into applause and cheers. Suddenly, her heart pounded, mind ran away and Samantha fought to stay focused.






I quietly said, this is the part where you take off your glove. The glove came off, I slipped on the ring, Samantha bent down and emphatically whispered in my ear, "YES!"



At that moment, I was unaware of all around us. I was caught up in the two of us, together.

We kissed, skated in a circle for a bit and then the first words from Samantha's mouth, "Alright, who was in on this? Did my dad know? Tim? Sandra? etc." ; )

Absolutely a surreal moment in time for all of us... More to come later!