2008
I was thrilled to fly Dana from Duluth to Las Vegas, while I flew from San Francisco to meet her at the Las Vegas airport. It was Dana’s first trip, and she considered it a once-in-lifetime adventure. I had carefully timed everything so that we could meet up and go to the hotel together.
We spent three nights in Las Vegas, and stayed at three different hotels, including Mandalay Bay, to provide Dana with a taste of Las Vegas. My boyfriend, retired Special Agent Will Lewis from the FBI, would pick us up and drive us around to see the attractions beyond the Strip. Dana, whose half-brother Paul lived in Las Vegas with his mom, Pricilla, were able to meet up, and spend some quality time together.
Dana mentioned that when she told Paul her dad and I used to be married, he felt upset about not knowing sooner. Nonetheless, Dana and I had a wonderful time and sufficiently wore ourselves out. While Dana hung out with Paul, I relaxed in our hotel room.
During our time at Mandalay Bay, we enjoyed basking in the sun, swimming, relaxing in the hot tub, and visiting the aquarium. While there, I purchased a pink plush stuffed toy jellyfish for Will’s granddaughter, Lexi. According to Will, she loved it and carried it everywhere with her. Will was going to lend us his car for the day, but we overslept that morning, and we were just too worn out to move, thus proving we were having a good time! Neither one of us drank alcohol, so it was a clean and sober trip for us both. I cherish those memories, and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world!
Then, in June 2008, I flew Dana to Salt Lake City, Utah, to see my father, who is also her grandpa. We rented a car and spent the night at a hotel near the airport. The next morning, we drove to my father's home in Midway, where we stayed the night in one of the guest bedrooms, and went shopping for an early birthday present for Dana's grandpa.
After our visit in Utah, we returned the rental car and flew to San Diego. It was our first experience flying together. We were both excited about our ultimate destination: Mexico, where we would stay at a hotel on the beach! Dana had never been to Mexico, and she collected a wide variety of souvenirs while there.
Dana took a walk on the beach, while I reviewed our itineraries just to ensure everything was in order. I discovered that I had mistakenly scheduled Dana’s flight out of San Diego to Las Vegas a day too late and she was going to miss her return flight from Las Vegas to Duluth. I had to cut our stay by one day.
I thought I had explained everything to Dana, but this turned into a fiasco. It was upsetting for Dana because she felt I was abandoning her. I didn't realize at the time that she thought I would be flying with her to Las Vegas, but my flight was scheduled for the next day out of San Diego, back to San Francisco. Dana didn't say anything to me about it, but looking back, I now realize that I should have flown with her so that she wouldn't be spending the night alone in Las Vegas. Although Dana was 38 years-old, it was very traumatic for her.
I booked a last-minute reservation for myself to stay overnight in San Diego at a Best Western, and Dana was off to Las Vegas alone. I had paid for her hotel, her shuttle to and from the hotel back to the airport, and made sure she had money for meals.
When Dana arrived in Las Vegas, she felt abandoned and called her mom, Kelly, in tears. I still knew nothing about this until after Dana returned home. Subsequently, I received a scathing email from Kelly, demanding that I never contact her or Dana again. It was approximately a year before I reached out to Dana again because I had been disowned by family before, and it was a profoundly painful experience.
In 2009, I had a premonition that we were going to lose Kelly, and I made a point of reaching out to Dana just to check in with her. She had recovered sufficiently from her trauma to allow me back into her life and thanked me for the nice hotel room I had arranged for her in Las Vegas the previous year. Kelly had sent me a Facebook friend request, but I didn’t see it until it was too late.
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