Several years ago my husband I took the one and only child-free vacation we’d ever had. I planned this wonderful trip to Cancun for our November anniversary, and we looked forward to it for months. Like all parents, we loved our children dearly, but we couldn’t get on that airplane fast enough.
We arrived in our tropical paradise, and there were beautiful pools, beaches, and bars everywhere. This was exactly what we planned. It was a little cloudy, but we immediately felt relaxed and life was good.
Laying in bed that night, we flipped channels and saw the weather news. A late-season tropical storm was blowing up toward the Yucatan Peninsula, and even though we were south of Cancun, we were in the direct path.
That evening it began to rain. A lot. And on the pleasant little newsletter that slid under our door each morning, the local forecast wasn’t looking much better. In an attempt to keep everyone happy, the resort offered a variety of indoor activities. Free movies. Free shows. Free drinks. Bingo. (yeah, I flew all the way to Mexico to play bingo…)
We watched as the housekeepers came into our room to remove furniture from our balcony, and as the ground staff calmly stacked the deck chairs and tables and lowered them into the pool. (I actually thought that was pretty smart.) As the storm turned into a hurricane, it also occurred to us that perhaps a high-rise on the beach might not be the safest place. Airlines had already begun cancelling flights, and we worried we wouldn’t make it home. Talk among all the guests was becoming increasingly stressed.
I’m not usually a worrier, but we were far from home, and didn’t know what our options were in an emergency. My husband and I became friendly with the concierge, an sweet older man who wore a bow tie comfortably. His answer to our growing anxiety and questions was always a smile and a polite, “It’s just a little rain, senora…”
It was that simple.
They had done all they could do to prepare. The storm was what it was. There was no changing it, and stressing about it certainly wasn’t going to help anyone. If there was clean up to be done afterwards, it would be dealt with at that time. He assured us we’d make it home in one piece.
Eventually the storm came, raged, and blew away. There was some damage to the hotel, but in the end, we were perfectly fine. Over those few days we met some nice people, ate well, drank well, slept as much as we wanted, and still had a lot of laughs. We learned that walking through the rain, though not expected, wasn’t entirely a bad experience.
Now, years later, whenever a string of unpleasant things begins to brew – someone gets sick, an appliance breaks, a car stops working, a job gets stressful – we have a saying in our house that helps us stay positive. Even the kids have learned it.
“It’s just a little rain, senora…”
Whatever it is, we’ll deal with, it will pass, and we’ll get through it. We’re just walking in the rain.
Thanks for that. Gave me a needed smile.