20 Years Ago... Part VI: The Wrap Up

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

So it is September 1989 and I have just arrived back in Lake Buena Vista, FL to be a permanent Disney cast member. The phone rings and it's Scott. We chat for a bit and then he asks if I want help bringing my stuff into the apartment. I said, "well that would be nice, but it would be difficult to do all the way from Crawfordsville IN." To which he replied, "actually I am in town so I will be right over."

Ok, what in the world was he doing in Florida?? He was supposed to be at work in Indiana. So, when he arrived at my door, I asked him, "what in the world are you doing here?" And he said, " I came to help you move in."

Sidebar: Scott always professes that he is not a romantic. And he isn't. Not in the giving flowers, jewelry, candle light dinner kind of way. Because his personal love language is "doing things" behind the scenes. Nothing flashy. Rarely verbal in any way.

He shows love and caring with understated gestures. Like driving all the way to Florida to help me move in. Or helping a friend install new computer hardware or software. Or installing motion sensor lights in the bathroom when the Eliza Grace was too short to reach the light switch :)

But I digress....where was I? Oh right...so....

I was floored! Did he really just say he took a week of voluntary temporary layoff and drive 900 miles to help me move a couple of boxes into my apartment? What was going on here?

Well, to say I was clueless is an understatement. But, come on...this was Scott. My buddy. The tall guy. Geesh, I could not see past his sternum, for crying out loud! Was he interested in me as more than a friend? Hmmm...I thought a lot about that over the next couple of days. And this time when he left, I really missed him. In fact, we began talking on the phone at least once a week after that (and that is pretty monumental, let me tell you, because Scott HATES talking on the phone).

So, we planned to get together again.

By now it was April 1990. I flew to Indiana and we drove to Chicago to visit InX buddies, George and Laura, who lived in and near Chicago, respectively. We met and stayed with George's aunt and uncle, toured a small, local brewery (a highlight for Scott!) and went to the top of the Sears tower (first time for me!). It was all very innocent and fun.

But then, the night before we were to drive back to Indiana, I got tired of waiting. Yes, that's right. I was waiting for that first hand hold or first kiss or a first....something! But no, Scott was playing it cool. So I took matters into my own hands.

On April 21st, 1990, right there in Gene and Myrna's third floor playroom, I made my move. Using the excuse that I missed his birthday earlier in the month and had not gotten him a present, I offered him a kiss as my gift. Well, I tell you honey, that is all it took. And since my mother, relatives, friends from church and someday possibly my children might read this, I will not elaborate...except to say it was just some smooching - come on, we were 22 years old!

So we agreed that we certainly had a "thing" for one another.

Now, in an effort to quit dragging this story out for another couple of months, the timeline of the next 18 years went like this:

April 1991 - Jacque cannot take one more tourist asking her "What time is the 3 o'clock parade?," turns in her mouse ears and moves to Crawfordsville, Indiana

February 1993 - Scott finally decides to quit fighting the inevitable and decides marriage will not kill him. Together Scott and Jacque pick out an engagement ring at the Camel City Pawn shop in Winston-Salem, NC (You are surprised? Do you KNOW Scott??)

September 1993 - Scott and Jacque tie the knot with nearly every member of the InX in attendance. Karaoke anyone?

October 1994 - Jacque and Scott adopt 4 month old Lucy puppy from the Crawfordsville animal shelter and thus their first "baby" arrived

October 1996 - Scott and Jacque move to Cary NC (thank you, Lord Jesus!)

January 8, 2001 - Elizabeth Grace Hughes was born - 8 lbs, 8oz and 21 inches long

November 23, 2005 - William Foster Hughes was born - 8 lbs, 8oz and 22 inches long

And that pretty much brings us to today.

20 YEARS later.

But every now and then, when I am driving down the street on a warm summer day, a certain smell or song suddenly flips a switch in my heart and I get that nostalgic, fluttery feeling in my tummy.

And, just for an instant, I am back in Florida, with no cares, no worries, lots of sun and lots of amazing new friends.

The feeling is wistful and fleeting, but it feels really good.....you know what I mean?

And all it started 20 years ago.....with one piece of paper....taped to a dorm wall....by a girl named Holly....who knew a guy named Scott.

20 Years Ago... Part V

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Well, as you may have guessed by now, the summer of '88 was THE summer for me.

I spent 3 months working in the Mexican Pavilion at EPCOT, being treated as the "gringa favrita." I also had no fewer than three marriage proposals during that time. To be fair, two were blatantly based on a desire for a green card but I think that Pancho was quite sincere in his quest for my hand. Alas, I had to let poor Panchito down gently, explaining that it was just not our destiny. I did not tell him, however, that I really could not deal with the fact that he was an inch shorter than me!

Me and Panchito in front of Disney U. I was slouching and he was pushing up on his heels

Me, Alejandro, Alejandra and Maria in the Mexican Pavillion breakroom. Alejandro..another suitor :)

During that same 3 months, when I wasn't working, I spent my time playing with my new and dear friends. Spontaneous road trips to Cocoa Beach (yeah, that's right, where Major Nelson and Genie lived!), enjoying quarter beer night at CJ's (and yeah, that's right, way back when they had 25 cent BEER nights), 3am dinners at Denny's on I-Drive (and there are about 100 Denny's on I-drive), going to the Giraffe for free shrimp and wings....ah, those really were the good 'ol days.

But, alas, August inevitably arrived. Time for us all to return to the real world. Back to my final year at Carolina. We said tearful farewells with determined plans to reunite during the school year. It was HARD to leave. Everything felt too good, too fun and too right for that 3 months. Sigh. But, we had to move on...plus, I had spent every penny I made on Mickey Mouse ear hats for like 30 people.

So it was now Autumn in Chapel Hill and I start getting these strange calls on my answering machine. Quuuuuuuuuu...I miss youuuuuuuuuuuu" (for those of you who do not know, my nickname is "Q") And then a click. No name, no nothing. The next time my mystery caller thankfully ended his message with "this is Scott."

Now, as you are likely aware, Scott is a fairly common name. And I actually had a couple of really good friends at Chapel Hill named Scott. So to be honest, I was not sure which Scott this was. Finally, I was actually in my room the next time the phone rang. And lo and behold, it was Scott Hughes....the tall guy....from my summer in Florida. Turns out he was planning a road trip to come visit his buddies in NC (Holly, Heather (Holly's sister, whom he met in Florida in '87) Dara, Suzy T and little 'ol me. He drove down for the weekend and we all got together and had a fun time as friends.

Scott enjoying a lot of female attention, Fall 1988 (Suzy T, Dara,Holly, Q & Scott)

Sidebar: About a year later, when Scott and I were "officially" dating, he recalled exactly what I was wearing and how my hair "was swinging behind my head in a pony tail" when he first saw me walking across the street in downtown Chapel Hill during that fall visit.

Dreamy sigh....

I, on the other hand, had no memory what-so-ever as to what he had been wearing....which is why I take pictures!

The following February 1989, the entire InX gang gathered in Nashville for a winter weekend of fun. Quite the road trip for Dara, Holly and me. It was snowing as we slugged our way through the NC mountains when suddenly Dara's driver side windshield wiper flew off! Dara was concerned about visibility - naturally - but I reasoned that "I could still see" from the passenger side. Yes, I know, what a completely dufus thing to say and rest assured I got razzed about that for many years to come.

After a stop at a gas station where a really nice man put the new wiper on for us, we were ready to get to Nash-vegas. That weekend, I got to meet more folks that hailed from Crawfordsville, IN (Elizabeth T, Karen Marie A) and we made lots more great memories. Like when we took over the "house" band in the hotel bar - dang we had some cajones! Monte on drums, Karen Marie on keyboards, others grabbing available instruments and then we belted out a really bad rendition of "Margaritaville.

Ah, good times. Good times.

Being silly in downtown Nashville (Elizabeth, Monte, Dara, Suzy, Holly, Scott & Laura)

Then Spring came and so did college graduation. What in the world was I going to do now? I had a degree in Speech Communications, which I also referred to as "fluff!" My big plan was to wait tables all summer, save money, and move back to Orlando to recapture some of the summer of '88.

(By the way, you can never go back and recapture it....sorry to say but it is true. So just do like me - revel in the memories and move on!)

Jill already had an apartment ready for us with a couple of other roomies, so I was focused on getting back to Florida. So early September I hopped in to my brand new car (Honda Civic, interest rate a whopping 14% and a monthly payment of $218.31 - it was going to be a long 5 years to pay that baby off!)

Well, I walk into the new apartment and I immediately had a phone call. Strange, but true. It was Scott Hughes. Hmmm. He and I chatted for a while and then I said I needed to unpack my car, to which he replied....
(Welll, you knew I was going to drag it out further, didn't you?! Part VI soon, I promise!)

That's one small step for (a) girl...

...one giant leap for girl-kind!

Eliza Grace thoroughly enjoyed Cary Space Camp last week. They spoke to a real NASA technician (a woman, mind you), built their own telescope, robot and rocket and spent an entire day at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill. She officially knows more about the solar system and the Mars Rover than Scott or I do!

The future face of the US Space Program