When it Rains, it Pours

Evening - 10/25/09

So if you read my last blog entry, written the day before I left England, you know I got sick. Turned out to be swine flu..oink, oink, oink. It's one of the reasons that I hadn't concluded my Burberry and Ali Berry blogs. What started as the "stomach flu" ran the gamut of other flu symptoms including body aches, congestion, headache and a terrible cough for good measure. I am so incredibly thankful that I didn't come down with all this at the beginning of my trip. And I'm even more thankful for the people that took care of me while I was away from home. The flight home was miserable and by the end of the trip I was ready for my own bed. "And this little piggy went, 'Wee wee wee' all the way home."

I've been working on getting healthy since the trip but today is the first day I actually believe I might truly be getting better. And what a good day to start to feel well! Today was the Colin's Hope Kid's Tri here in Austin. Ali was going to volunteer and though she couldn't be here, two of her friends drove in from San Antonio just to share their time in her honor. How incredible is that!?! Her spirit continues to bring me comfort! The day was an incredible success and it was so much fun to see those kiddos have fun out there doing the tri. I was the bike course manager and got such a kick out of seeing 5 year olds on training wheels getting just as competitive and into it as the 15 year olds. They were hilarious!

I don't have much new to report as far as my travels go but I thought a good conclusion to these blogs would be to better explain the title "Burberry and Ali Berry". Burberry is the British luxury fashion icon with the trademarked checkered pattern in its trench coats, scarves, luggage, etc. It's what Ali and I thought of over here in the U.S. when we imagined shopping in London.

For my birthday present, Ali drove around Texas trying to find this Burberry umbrella she saw in tan but wanted for me in red, my favorite color. Whether it was south Texas, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas or El Paso, she searched far and wide for this perfect gift. She always put a ton of thought into her gifts for others, which is why they were often late:) Though it was a few weeks after my birthday, it was the Monday before her accident and a week an half before our trip to England that she gave me my gifts.

First, I unwrapped the converter plugs...awesome! She talked about how these plugs will be perfect for England but that there were additional attachments that could be used across the world. She was so excited to point out that, "You can use those wherever you go! Anywhere!" The world is my oyster! Japan, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Liechtenstein ...I'll be blow drying my hair, one country at time.

Second, I unwrapped my wallet. It's a black leather wallet with silver buttons on it to give it a cool edginess. I found it makes spending money fun. Love it! And, as she quickly pointed out, "It's a perfect size to hold your passport too." Awesome!

But it doesn't end there. My third gift was a 2010 London book. She read her 2008 England book every day and would recount the highlights with me via emails and phone calls. When she gave me the new book she said her England book was better (and after reading it I agree) but that she'd share it with me. Anyway, between her book and my new book we were set. I remember at our dinner I looked up nightlife in London. Everything sounded fun and while I didn't get a chance to hit up all the places we were looking at visiting, it gives me something to go back and check out.

I took both books on the trip and found them very useful. I especially enjoyed reading what Ali had read and searching through the dog eared pages and learning what was most interesting to her. She read that thing front-to-back and would've been a better tour guide than David. We joked about that on the trip when he wasn't sure if we were looking at the palace or not (we weren't). Ali would've known. And she would've given us the history and interesting facts as well. Oh, and did I mention we saw the Queen drive by in a motorcade? Holy cow, that was cool. We were about to cross a street when about 5-6 fancy schmancy black cars that only belong in the U.K. went by. There she was in the back of one of them, purple dress, matching overcoat and a fancy purple pill hat to tie it all together. Too cute. I jabbed David in the side as they passed by cause we totally missed getting a picture. He had the best camera of the group so all photo opportunities were his responsibility. I told him we could've gotten money for that photo shot. We could've sold the rights to "People" magazine. Perfect for the "Stars - They're Just Like Us" section. I envisioned her taking the motorcade to grab a venti skinny hazelnut latte at Starbucks, pick up her dress from the dry cleaners (some idiot, drunk from the British Parliament spilled wine on her at a recent soiree) and then get a mani/pedi after her afternoon yoga class. Her Majesty keeps busy!

Now, back to the gifts. My fourth and final gift, the best of them all, was the umbrella. It was a compact umbrella and would be perfect for my purse. And, cause of the time of the year, we were expecting quite a bit of rain while we were over there. The whole thing is held together by a reversible rain hat too. Very posh:) When I opened up the red umbrella, I saw the "Burberry" logo written across the back in tan. Just perfect. That's when Ali retold the story of how she saw the tan one but searched far and wide for the red one...which is why my gifts were so late. Like I cared. The gifts were awesome! In fact, some of the most thoughtful gifts ever. I loved my Burberry umbrella and couldn't wait to use it in England!

We went off to a nice Mexican dinner at Sazon and talked about how much fun we were going to have. Our biggest concern? How were we going to get all our clothes to fit in our bags?!? We wear the same size in shoes and clothes and conveniently, had similar tastes as well. So we were trying to figure out a way for us to pack shoes we could share, to save space. And Ali was SO excited to wear these fabulous black boots Chris gave her for Christmas one year. The boots are pretty fantastic so she had little concern for how much space they would take up. In a normal suitcase, it would take up 1/3 of the bag. Which is why she intended on wearing them on the plane to/from the U.S. Who cares that she'd be uncomfortable wearing these amazing boots for a long flight, they must go to England! No matter, it's worth it. And believe me, I held up my end of the bargain. When David saw the size of my suitcase he just rolled his eyes. Typical over-packing, American girl. Whatever. I'll own it.

England was a whirlwind of events that I tried to cover as best I can in these blogs. While there are chapters of stories and emotions that I left off, I did my best to highlight bits and pieces in an effort to convey how much Ali was a part of the trip.

The weather was beautiful over there and it only rained once. A gift from Ali I'm certain. It was the perfect kind of rain to make drinking coffee that much more enjoyable and to make it really feel like it was a typical fall day in London. And that allowed me to use my trusty Burberry umbrella. It was a beautiful, symbolic day touring London. On an otherwise dreary, rainy day about London, my photos with varying shades of gray backgrounds are all punctuated with a sassy red umbrella just to remind me of Alison.

A flood of emotions come over me when I think about my England trip and all that I went through. New friends, new experiences and a beautiful journey along the way. Just like the proverb, "Every cloud has a silver lining", I'll find comfort remembering that even on rainy days, I'll always have a red Burberry umbrella to make me smile.

Thank you, God for sharing Alison with us and continuing to shine her light on us through her spirit.