Groundhog Day

I’m referring to that Bill Murray movie where he re-lives the same day over and over again. That was my Saturday and Sunday.


As I have mentioned, A has a crush on Rupert Grint and follows his fan site online religiously. She found out that he had been invited to an awards show in London and wanted to know if we could go check it out and see if she could get some pictures of him. I told her if the weather was nice and my cold had subsided I would consider it. Saturday afternoon she got ready spending a very long time on her hair, which lasted all of 5 minutes once the wind and the rain had their way. As we were walking down the street to the train station, I said to A, “Hmm, when we walk down these streets again will you be disappointed or elated?” Little did I know...

We got off the train and went in search of the hotel. I had actually been to this hotel to meet a friend last year so I had a pretty good idea of where it was. As I was reading a map and figuring out where to go A starts freaking out as she does when she thinks we are lost. I eventually looked at her and said that if she ever pulls that again, I’m never taking her anywhere. The way she acts you’d think at some point in her formative years we’d gotten lost in the wilderness and had to resort to cannibalism! When we arrive at the hotel, all is quiet except some trucks with media equipment around the side. In between frosty silences A realized that the fan site said Saturday the 15th and Saturday is NOT the 15th! At this point she is distraught because she doesn’t think I’ll bring her the next day while I’m in the middle of shifting gears to Plan B, buy her friend’s birthday present for her party this coming weekend. She finds this too stressful at the moment which makes me snap, and I tell her to start thinking about someone other than herself. As I am saying this, I realize we are having a heated conversation on one of those posh streets in London where they probably don’t allow “crazy”.

As we start our train journey home, tears are streaming down her face in a packed train when I notice a 20-something lady rummaging around in her purse until she finds what she was looking for. She doesn’t say anything, she simply smiles a sympathetic smile and hands A a napkin to dry her tears. I thought it was so sweet since on public transportation you try not to act like you notice what’s happening around you.

When the sun was shining the next day, and with H at work I agreed to go back down to London. It was weird, on the journey I noticed at times we were standing on the train platform right in front of the same advertisement we had stood before the day before. This time when we arrived there was activity as the red carpet was being delivered and fans were standing outside the hotel gates. A found out from the organizers that Rupert was confirmed to attend and the excitement could not be contained! As I stood there with one ear bud in my ear listening to a cooking podcast, she kept turning around and smiling at me saying “Aren’t you excited?!”

So what was it like for her to meet her crush? He was a no-show! While I enjoyed taking pictures of Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, and many others, she kept watching and waiting for the arrival that didn’t happen. So in the end, there were tears on the train once again, but this time instead of a kind stranger with a napkin, mom put her arm around her and hugged her the whole ride home.