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!)

20 Years Ago... Part IV

Part I
Part II
Part III

Finally, after Suzy and I became exhausted from our frenzy of conversation, some of the other gang from Indiana began to arrive home. Next, I met another life-long dear friend, future post-collegiate roommate, and hospital recovery driver (more on that another time, I assure you), Miss Jill W.

First of all, Jill encompasses so much that is good and light. And I mean that. Jill, who is known for her "Jan Brady style" long hair, her love of rainbows and all things Precious Moments, seems at first too "nice" to be real. Is she perfectly nice and happy all the time? Well, are any of us?
But to me, Jill has always been much closer to continuous joy than I can ever be. Meeting Jill that first time was like meeting a ray of sunshine. Seriously. An elbow pinching, adding the syllable "-ba" to the end of your name, ray of sunshine. She was fun and goofy and we became fast friends, especially when we realized that we had so much in common.

We are both 3rd daughters out of 5 children, with the youngest being the only boy. We understood our role in the birth order. We were the family cheerleaders. We wanted to keep the peace and get the attention we so desired. And given that, Jill and I were able to understand, more than most, how important it was to be able to have a "down" day.

You see, when you are the upbeat one, the happy one, the glass half full one all the time, it can get exhausting. I think Jill and I felt safe to let our lower emotions show with each other more so than we did with others. When we wanted to be in a bad mood, we would just let each other be in a bad mood. Man, that is something that is nice to have. And, typical to our personalities, it did not last long. So Jill and I basically had a really fun summer being happy and "rarely" grumpy together!

Jill-ba!

So then I met Monte T. (aka Mr. Suave) , George D. (aka: golden boy), and Jason S. (aka: flaming liberal - yeah, Jason and I got along great...NOT!) all from Indiana as well. Of course, there was no sign of this Scott guy, but I guess I did not need to find him after all, since the rest of the gang had already given me the ok!

Fast forward a few days, Holly and Dara, my Carolina cohorts that I had also just met, arrived from NC and it was move in day for me. There were 2 apartments side-by-side, thus they shared a common wall. I walked into the girls apartment and began to find places to stash my meager belongings. Recall that I did not have a bedroom, just a non-fold out couch on which to sleep. There was a bathroom in each of the bedrooms, however, so I picked one to use for the remainder of the summer and went to put my toiletries away.

My humble abode on Villa de Costa Drive
(yes, that is my stuffed whale)

As I entered the bedroom, I came upon an strange site. There, sprawled on the floor between the two single beds was a very long pair of skinny, hairy legs. I could see the owner of the legs was digging a hole into the wall, the same wall that attached to the boys apartment. I sort of cleared my throat and said, "Just what are you doing? You know we will have to pay for any damage to this apartment." But he just keep doing what he was doing, not really bothering to reply. When he was finished with his task, he stood up and kind of smiled, but just then Holly walked in to explain that he was putting a hole between the apartments to run an extra long phone line so we could share one phone line between the apartments, instead of paying for two. 

I was sort of impressed.
(Note for the younger generations: this was pre-cell phones, so way back in the dark ages your phone had to be connected to the wall with all kinds of telephone company fees and regulations!)

And who was our handy man whom I just encountered on the floor? 

This was the elusive Mr. Scott Hughes. I think we said a quick hello and then he asked if anyone want to go out for a beer. When no one took him up on it, he said, "Ok, I'll go by myself."

My first thought? Honestly? Odd. He seemed a little odd. But not in bad kind of way, just, I don't know, different.

So, being that I am over 40 and have gone through 2 pregnancies, my memory is not the sharpest, but as I recall we all spent the next couple of hours just getting to know one another and generally settling in. My buddy John came over to meet the gang as well and we all got along famously.

Scott reappeared a while later for a group dinner and then as we all sat around chatting, I found myself sitting next to Scott. He looked at me and said his first real sentence, which I remember quite clearly. He said, "You 21 yet?"

Well, in fact I was. Apparently, he was still in need of a drinking buddy. I thought, "well, they all know him, he seems pretty harmless, so what the heck." Despite the fact that he was 6'4" I very likely outweighed him, so I figured I was safe enough.

And just like that, we became friends. That's it. Just friends. I had an instant appreciation for his very dry humor and his seemingly inability to let things upset him. Like the time he asked a girl out and they met us all for drinks after work. And then she ended up continuing the date with someone else from our gang. I was completely indignant on his behalf but he appeared completely unfazed. I asked him why he was not upset. He just smiled and said, "it happens sometimes."

I loved that about him. He was the most even keel person I think I had ever met. Truly my opposite in so many ways. Which is why I guess I never thought about him in any real romantic way that summer.

But, then again, perhaps in the back of my mind, I did. Because, as cliche as it sounds, we actually made the "if neither one of us is married by 30, we will marry each other" pact that summer. I am not kidding. It is really weird. And we both thought it quite the little joke.

Until later that fall...

Scottie regaling a canoe load of Japanese tourists with corny Disney jokes

(Yeah, that's right...there is a part V!)

20 Years Ago... Part III

Part I
Part II

So Holly could not be in Florida when I got there (something about wisdom teeth, yadda, yadda) so she said I needed to go to the apartments and ask for a guy named Scott Hughes. However, upon my arrival I encountered a whirlwind of enthusiasm and big hair, the likes of which I had never seen before.

Yes, the person who answered my knock was Suzy M of Crawfordsville Indiana. Talk about a kindred spirit. I was not even over the threshold when we excitedly began a fast-talking friendship that endures to this day. The initial conversation went something like this (note: to get the full effect of the conversation you need to read this very quickly with no real pauses except for quick breaths):

Me: "Hi, my name is Jacque and I go to Carolina with Holly and she told me all about working for Disney and that you all had 2 apartments one for the girls and one for the guys and she said that I should come here and ask for Scott Hughes and meet the other girls from Indiana so I could ask if it is ok with ya'll that I sleep in the girls apartment on the couch and we could all save on the rent and I thought it would be so much fun and I am so excited to meet you all and cannot wait to play in the parks.... "

Suzy: "Hiiiiiiiiii! I am Suzy and it is so great to meet you. I am not sure about everyone else but I think it would be great if you wanted to stay here to because it is just going to be so much fun and we just got here today and I cannot wait to start and did you already have your interview? do you know where you are going to work? Monte's sister used to be the Ambassador for Walt Disney World and she helped us all get jobs and... "

Me: " That is soooooooooooo cool and I'm so excited and wow she must have really loved that awesome job here at Disney and so ya'll got some really cool jobs? and..."

Suzy: "Please come on in and you can move in whenever I think we are going to have so much fun this summer and everyone is so nice and I cannot wait.....

Me: " I know! Can you believe we get to do this, oh man, this is so exciting and did you see we are right next to the hot tub and there is a volley ball court and this is so much like what my sister Heidi and I talked about doing when we grew up except we talked about moving to California and living in an apartment right on the beach and.... "

Suzy: " I know, I say we use the hot tub tonight and then go to the pool and maybe do a day trip to Cocoa Beach tomorrow...wait, OH MY GOSH! I love this song...Pour some sugar on me...yeah in the name of love..."

Well, you get the point.

Suzy and I got along like peas and carrots as they say. She was the beauty and brains and I was, well, I was the comic relief. We complimented each other very well. It was about 45 minutes into this ultimate gab-fest, when it dawned on me to ask the following question..."oh, I forgot, Holly said I should talk to Scott...is he here too?"

"No, Suzy, Jason is not moving to Canada to work.

He meant the Canadian Pavillion at EPCOT!"

Part IV soon...I promise!

20 years ago... (Part II)

(Part I is here)

So what was I to do? I wanted to move to Florida for the summer and work at Walt Disney World, but I could not figure out how to make the finances work.

Remember how I said Holly was really smart? Well, she came up with a plan. There were going to be 4 girls in one 2 bedroom apartment and 4 guys next door in another 2 bedroom apartment. I was offered the opportunity to be the 5th roomie in the girl's pad and I could sleep on the couch (for a reduced rent, of course). Not a fold out couch, mind you, just the couch. I was in! The only other problem, however, was that Holly was going to arrive in Florida after I did, so she gave me directions to the apartment complex and spoke those fateful words, "When you get to the apartment, ask for a guy named Scott Hughes."

So, I packed my meager belongings and headed off on my adventure. I stayed with a cousin north of Orlando for a week or so until the rest of my future roomies arrived. Apparently this guy named Scott Hughes was to show up with others from the far off land of Indiana and then I would move into the apartment.

In the meantime, I drove to the main entrance of Walt Disney World and when asked to pay for parking, I informed the attendant that I really was there to get a job. He directed me to the trailer that was used as the "casting" office at the time, so off I went. Within 45 minutes I had filled out an application, taken a math test that would have insulted a 10 year old's intelligence, had an interview in which I most vehemently rejected any position that involved food service and was hired as a casual temporary for the summer! It was official, I worked for The Mouse.

My first day of work was spent in a class called Disney Traditions. This was a new hire class that taught you everything from what make-up, shoes and jewelry you could wear "on stage" to how to easily remember the names of all 7 Dwarfs. They even dispelled myths. That's right, Walt is not buried in some room in Cinderella's castle but is in fact in the ground somewhere in Anaheim.

Want to hear a funny aside to all this? Sure you do!

There I was at my WDW new hire class, and this good looking guy from the class walks up to me during a break and says "Don't I know you from Carolina?" Now I did not know this guy at all so my response was typical, tactless Jacque. I said, "I am 700 miles from home, there are 12,000 students at Chapel Hill, there are 25,000 employees at Disney, there are hundred of "Traditions" classes at Disney....and you know me??" Thankfully, John just laughed and we forged a friendship.

We spent hours over the next couple of weeks trying to figure out how in the world he recognized me from Carolina. I lived on campus, he lived off campus. We did not have any of the same classes or outside activities together and we could not find one single friend that we had in common. In the end, we figured out that he and I had walked past each other every day on the way to class the previous semester. All I can say is that God was looking out for me for sure because in those first few days on my own, He helped me find a friend to hang out with.

Although John did not live with the gang that eventually came together that summer, he was officially part of the "InX" (as we referred to ourselves - the In stood for cool and the X stood for the fact that we never knew how many of us would be in the apartments at any given time. Yes, we were dorks. Probably still are.)

Our buddy John...never get him started on his days as a surgical assistant!

But, what about that guy I was supposed to ask for? Some tall guy named Scott? Well...
(stay tuned for Part III)

20 years ago....(Part I)

20 years ago this week I began an adventure that would shape the course of my adult years.

A soul searching trip across the United States in a VW bus?
A missions trip to a third world country?
A summer in Alaska researching wildlife?

Nope.

20 years ago this week, I hopped into my 1978 Carolina Blue BMW, drove out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and took a 700 mile drive to Lake Buena Vista, Florida. And lest you be too impressed with the car, it was mechanically a piece of crap, but oh my, I looked good driving it. 

So, why did I drive to Florida, you ask? Well, I went there in search of a guy named Scott Hughes.

Okay, so I realize I need to provide a little back story.

Mid-May, 1988: I was completing my junior year at UNC-Chapel Hill. Up to that point I had spent every summer before and during college taking a class at Winston-Salem State University and waiting tables at the Dead Lob (that's Red Lobster for those of you who never worked there - to this day I still get a bit stressed out when I see the Lobsterfest commercials).

I was determined to have "the best summer of my life," since it was in effect my last summer before I had to enter the real world all on my own (of course, this was back in the late 1980's, a time when it was not a forgone conclusion that college graduates would move back home and leech off live with their parents for another 10 years.)

So, one day in May I was walking through the dorm when a sign caught my eye. "Live with me at Walt Disney World this summer!" Well, can you image any greater enticement in the world??

I called the number listed on the flyer and asked for Holly M. The person who answered the phone promptly banged on a wall and yelled to her next door neighbor that the phone was for her. This was really funny.  Why? Well, you see, my soon to be dear friend Holly is incredibly smart. I mean really smart. Honor student, blah, blah, blah. And I think when one is really smart like that sometimes the little things in life are a wee bit challenging...like putting your own phone number on the flyer instead of your next door neighbors by mistake! Ah, I still laugh at that one. I quickly learned that it was a not an a-typical Holly M. move :)

Anyhoo, Holly and I met and she brought with her all of the Disney propaganda and lots of fun and exciting stories of her previous summer at Disney, which had me ready to sign up....except...there was one a small problem. Apparently Disney would pay me about $670.00 a month for a 40 hour work week and my living expenses would likely run around $700 a month. Even I could do the math on that one.

But I was not to be discouraged and Holly had an idea....(stay tuned for Part II)

Sweet Holly the summer of '88