Back From and Returning To Paradise ...

We are back from ... and have returned to ... Paradise.

After the most perfect 5 days in the Caribbean, on our last afternoon at sea we had [nutshell version] a chain of events which led me to believe we might not make it home. And all I could think about were my kids ... and how I wanted the ending to be [just as planned] me & Kyle in the living room at home, being able to give our kids the souvenirs we had bought them. We had called home from Cozumel the day before & I had promised Libby a pink guitar & a dress, which made her giggle. Couldn't wait to see the kids again & give them their gifts ... getting to do that seemed like the natural way to end the trip. Yet from about 2:40 - 3:00 PM on our last full day, I wasn't convinced it would happen.

Severe high winds & a sudden downpour [Kyle said it was a "squall line"] created a hurricane-like effect on the upper outdoor decks where we were [i.e. patio furniture in the air became projectiles]. That was the first crisis. The second one was a reaction to the first ... where the ship took the sharpest of turns to avoid the sudden weather, causing the ship to severely tilt ["list" is Kyle's Navy term], causing about 2 feet's worth of the pool's water to dump over the edge to the other side of the ship, glass bottles & items to come crashing to the floor off the shelves everywhere on the ship, water to come spilling in from doorways [including in our room since we had a balcony] & the glass elevators to operate not exactly "up & down", but on a 35 degree angle. Chaos & panic were all around us. Despite these vivid scenes ... it was a total blur. These were just the key things I remember witnessing which escalated my fears.

Chaos finally settled, messes were cleaned up, carpets were dried, and I think views of paradise had been changed. I know mine was back in my home in Kansas City. Soooo good to be here!