(Sunday Paper, Year V, Issue 31)

If you read my Wednesday Facebook post this week you got a quick preview of what I was going to tell you about in this Sunday Paper.

(And if you missed the post, know that since the start of the year #EveryWeekOnWednesday I post a picture and tell a story and you can Like the page by clicking here so you don’t miss any of that…and you can follow me on Twitter while you’re at it. [Look at that. I’m not sure I’ve ever done those plugs so early in a post.])

Like many other people, we’ve had to cancel a family vacation because of the pandemic.

But this was no ordinary vacation we canceled.

Unlike other years, and other run-of-the-mill trips, this year was going to be a big deal.

We should have been in England right now.

Here’s the thing about me and Kathy - we’re pretty laid back.

So things kind of unfold as they unfold - it’s not like we go crazy planning and planning something too far in advance.

But this summer we were gearing up for something big.

I 100% thought it was going to end up being Disney World. Kathy was kind of leaning England and/or France. So she asked the kids what they wanted to do. (Not in a leading way. Just like, “Where would you girls like to go this summer?” That kid of thing.)

I thought it would seal the deal on Orlando. They said London and Paris.

So, in uncharacteristic fashion, we had our vacation planned and partly booked by February.

Then, of course, the world’s situation changed…and the Sucich vacation plans followed suit.

As you can see in that e-mail reminder my e-mail was nice enough to provide me on Friday even though everything was canceled, on Friday we were supposed to fly to London.

We would have spent a few days there, and then taken the Chunnel across to Paris, and spent the rest of the week there.

It would have been a good time - on Sunday afternoon we were going to see ‘Matilda’ in the West End (London’s theater district, as I’ve learned), which was an appropriate show for this year because it was the musical in which my oldest daughter performed back in the fall.

Among other activities - we would have gone to Harry Potter World, and then a TBA activity to fill another day in England. (For you Keane fans, I looked up the distance to the Sovereign Light Cafe - I don’t think that would have been in the cards for the limited time we had there.)

in Paris we were staying not far from the Eiffel Tower, and we planned on visiting the Louvre. We were flying home from Paris after a week.

Instead of all that, Kathy is going to try to make some French cuisine this week - French Fries, French Toast, you know, French stuff. (Just kidding. She does have some dishes in mind though.)

And there’s kind of a mixed feeling. We continue to enjoy the activities in the yard, so we’re doing OK. But there’s definitely a bummed feeling about not being on an international vacation right now.

Well, everyone else is kind of bummed.

I’m not, if I’m being honest.

From the minute we were talking about the vacation I was dreading having to leave the dog behind.

And if there’s been any good news it is this: I haven’t had to leave this pup alone since early March.

Notes

*I don’t have a whole lot else to tell you this week. The Mets have been playing awful baseball. The Rangers started on Saturday and that was kind of fun to watch but I don’t think I’ll watch much hockey after the Rangers get eliminated (and I don’t see them going all the way to a Stanley Cup win). And, back to baseball, it’s not looking like the season will continue for very long anyway.

*I mentioned something about comedy last week and I’ve been thinking about performances - or lack thereof - lately. I think that might be what I’m writing about in the Sunday Paper next week.

*Thanks for reading. I feel like the Sunday Paper has been unusual in this most unusual past five months. Thanks for coming back every week.