Vail with Stella

Dear Stella,

I’m sitting on a plane with you right now traveling from Vail to NYC. We have just had our first mother-daughter vacation, something I have thought about often. Imagining Canyon Ranch or maybe a trip to Italy. Instead, a ski trip to Vail fell into our laps courtesy of some friends who had a condo with an extra bedroom over this long weekend. My hope, of course, was that Daddy would be able to come too. Early on, it became clear that it would probably be best (though not easy) to leave Vivian at home since she is too young to ski and would likely have a little trouble with the time difference. And anyway, Grandma and Grandpa wanted her desperately since time alone with Vivian isn’t easy for them to come by. As it happened though, Daddy had a meeting that could not be re-scheduled but he really encouraged me to take you myself as it was too great an opportunity to pass up. And as it turns out, that was definitely the right decision. I’m happy that Daddy made me brave and encouraged me to do it.

First of all, your skiing got good enough that we could ski green trails together pretty safely and easily. The first day you went to ski school for the whole day and were promoted from Level 2 to Level 3. However, you were slightly tramautized, feeling that ski school was just too long (9:30-3:15). So we agreed that the next day that you would do ski school in the morning and I would pick you up at lunch time. At the end of the third day of ski school, your instructor told me that you were by far the best in your group and would definitely be a 3+ next time.

INTERRUPTION: The battery on your DVD player just went out and you asked me if I wanted to play Hangman so I am going to finish this letter at home later. Playing Hangman with you is fun!

LETTER CONTINUED A MONTH LATER: So the second two days, you went to ski school until lunch time and then I came to pick you up, we skied to a lunch place, had lunch together and then skied together all afternoon. Both days we were basically the last people on the mountain. It was so much fun to ski with you even if your version of skiing (with me) was to basically point your skis down the mountain and go. At ski school you practiced turning and you can totally do it, but somehow on your own, it was more fun to get speed.

You had a really great time with Luke, the son of my friends who was also in the Red Room with you. You guys had never really been friends in the Red Room but you had so much fun together in Vail. First thing in the morning, you would ask if you could go see if they (Luke and his brother) were awake. You watched movies together and ran through the halls of the hotel having a great time. I'm not sure what it was that you were doing, but you guys would often ask us if you could go down the hall and we decided that you could go just as far as the footbridge. One time, though, when you came back, Luke confessed that you had gone past the bridge. You convinced me that it was all Luke's idea and you didn't want to, blah blah blah. But another time, you guys disappeared for about twenty minutes and we were all in kind of a panic. Luke's dad called security and Isabel and I ran down the hall looking for you guys. She eventually found you playing soccer with some other kids you had met. So it was all pretty understandable and innocent but really scary nevertheless. Other than that, we had an amazing time. I loved traveling with you. Having so much one on one time with you was really special and I will always treasure the memory of our first trip together. I hope it is the first of many.

I love you.
Love, Mom