A couple of weeks ago I took my mother down to visit my dad’s grave. It’s been a few years now, so it wasn’t a difficult trip, unless you count the 4-5 hours of driving each way. Family sorted and hotel booked, we set off.
We arrived at our hotel in the evening, after a quick pit-stop at the church to see the grave, and checked in. It was not the place I remembered! Well, it was the place, but…
The pipe box behind reception was unpainted, pipes were fixed to the outside of it. There were wires hanging out of the walls and the counter top was a peeling sticker printed to look like wood.
I had my wedding reception there!
My mum told the gentleman behind the counter that apparently I was their first ever wedding, 19 years ago. I certainly wouldn’t have chosen it today. The man said we should be getting this stay for free… We didn’t.
As we trundled along the corridor to our rooms, I decided the chic had most definitely fallen into shabby status. I suppose 19 years is a long time.
At my mum’s room, we set our bags down and I noticed the curtains didn’t match. One side had red at the top and gold at the bottom and the other side was the reverse. Within a few minutes it was driving me mad. Mum’s view was a brick wall about 3m away, so the curtains were important. The beige carpet was stained and the bathroom smelled damp.
Worn out from the journey, I left to walk along to my room and found an almost identical room for myself. Better carpet and the bathroom didn’t smell, I had a view which stretched more than 3m, but the curtains...? Exactly the same! And then I had a thought… What if I were to unhook one curtain and swap it with my mum’s? Then we would both have a pair of matching curtains. Brilliant!
So I pulled over the chair and unhooked my red topped curtain and peering out of my room, ran down the corridor and frantically knocked on my mum’s door to be let in. I burst in with my curtain under my arm and explained my self and mum just giggled and left me to it.
Unhooking her gold topped curtain, I attached my red topped one and she had a matching pair.
Aaaah! Much better.
Then it was a quick dash back along the corridor, my mum giggling and my husband ringing half way out of her door, trying to gather what was going on.
I heard footsteps and so legged it back to my room, her gold topped curtain in hand and bundled myself into my room with a fit of the giggles and a matching curtain to reattach.
Hubby thought it was hysterical, Mum immediately rang her neighbour to tell her what madness was going on but I had a pair of matching curtains!
If only I could do something about the missing bit of skirting board…
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