On Friday we went to Disney's Adventure park to have some fun. It closed around 6 so the plan was for Jackie to go to a restaurant and get a table, while I went to the Buzz ride to get a fast pass ticket. I was almost to the ride when Jackie let me know that the lines were really long, so we'd probably just need to eat in the park. I told her I'd meet her at the front gate with Lexi.
Friday's are really busy at Disney so navigating the crowd was pretty tough with a stroller. Jackie was at the front gate pretty much as I was leaving the fast pass area with Lexi. I told her I'd be there soon, so I started gunning Lexi through the park.
I was cutting through a restaurant in order to speed things up a bit and I heard my name. I looked around and saw Jackie Rice and her daughter Daniel sitting down waiting for their cousin to get off a ride. I gave out some hugs and told them that I'd be right back, that I had to get Jackie who was waiting outside the park.
"Want me to watch her?" Jackie asked pointing to Lexi?
"You sure?" I didn't want to be a bother.
"No, just go, we'll watch her."
With that, I said ok, I'll see you back her in a minute, and took off towards Jackie and Ian waiting at the gates. When I got there Jackie of course asked, "Where's Lexi?" I told her I saw the "other" Jackie and she was with her and thought it'd be easier to leave her with her. She asked me, "and you're sure it was Jackie Rice? Right?"
We got back and saw Lexi had gotten a new light blinky thing (one other park patron called "really annoying" as it was being flashed in her face). We talked about how Jackie had torn her ACL and was out of racquetball for 6 months. She also was disappointed that she didn't make the US Team this year. We talked about the kids and racquetball a bit more and then they had to take off. I felt a bit sad, like I was leaving a family member.
Recollecting, I thought about the trust involved with leaving your own kid with someone else. While I hadn't seen Jackie for a few months, as soon as she asked I knew that Lexi would be fine staying with her, and that it would be like one of my own family members was watching after her. I had forgot that Jackie hasn't seen Jackie Rice in about 4 years (they pretty much re-met each other again) so wasn't exactly sure what I had done. The fact is, there are so many people within the sport, that I consider part of my extended family. I trust them, and have been through a lot of adventures with many different players in the past. It's always great to see them again even after a long strech, as we always pick right up when we saw each other last.