Chapter 10: [ho-tay-ul]

When Cindy first proposed the idea of booking a night at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort, I was interested. Eloise, though, was ecstatic. Not because she had any experience with hotels, but because GranMama had planted daydreams of the experience in her head. Eloise talked endlessly of going to the “ho-tay-ul” – of swimming and horseback riding, of s’mores and slides.

Now in most instances, expectations surpass the reality. The anticipation is sweeter than the muddled moments. This was The Exception. We spent 30 hours squeezing in every activity and experience we could. The memory remains so bright in my mind that I know we could never recreate it. But we try…

For at least three months after our getaway, Eloise and I would weave bedtime stories around the hotel. She would include her cousins (the “grandbabies”) and Nana and Papa in her adventures. And each night we would cut out at the climax with the battle cry, “To be continued!!”