LIMO NIGHT

Every year, two Saturdays before Christmas we took a family ride.
An all-together-in-one-vehicle family ride.

It began with 11 of us but some years we had as many as 17.
We called it “Limo Nite”.
But the first time we did it, it didn’t have a name and only two of us knew what was going on.

We mailed “save-the-date” notes to our girls and their family way ahead of time so there’d be no excuses no, “but I gotta…..”.
All the note said was the date and to be outside, waiting for something at 5 p.m.
We got phone calls…many phone calls from our daughters who were never good at secrets especially when they didn’t know what the secret was.
They begged, pleaded and even tried blackmail but we didn’t buckle.
Nope, not even one teeny, tiny hint.

Finally, the day arrived.
The phone rang all day giving us one last chance to tell but NOPE!

At 4:45 on the button, a limo pulled up in front of our house.
We were waiting with coolers full of all of our favorite drinks, and we were off.

We pulled up to couple number one, they were waiting on the curb as instructed. Their eyeballs got big when the Limo stopped in front of them instead of passing by and movin’ on down the road.
The limo driver hopped out, ran around to one of the back door’s, greeted them and opened the door for them to hop in.
My daughter had her sweet new baby girl in her arms, barely one month old. When she saw us in the back seat, all she could get out was, “holy shit.”
We took the baby, they hopped in and away we went to house number two.

These three were also as instructed, waiting at the curb. Our first grandchild just barely two years old was jumping up and down when he saw the big, looong, white car come to a stop. Again, the Limo driver hopped out and around to open the door for them. Their laughter was contagious and as they jumped inside, well we were all laughing.

Our grandson could barely contain himself, he was a button pusher and the back of that limo had more buttons in one place than he’d ever seen in his little life. To his amazement, each button changed something inside that big looong white car. Glasses popped up, lights changed colors, music came on and off, windows went up and down, he was in heaven. When we showed him how the sunroof opened and closed, well let me say, that sunroof opened and closed maybe a hundred times that night.

Our last couple was eagerly waiting. One more time, out with the Limo driver, quickly around and open the door. The laughter began when we saw the look on their two faces, kinda big-eyed, mouth-open-stare, you know that look. Before they were even in the limo, we were somewhere near howling with laughter, all of us.
The mood was set, this was gonna be one or our crazy nights…the kind we had from time to time when we all got together.

For the next two hours, our driver played Christmas music and drove us to view some extravagantly decorated houses while we sang, laughed, moved around and made sure we sat next to everyone for at least a few minutes. We took pictures; some were posed, many weren’t. We decided rather quickly that Roger was the greatest Limo driver ever.

When two hours rolled around, we unloaded at R.T. Pizza.
We’d reserved the party room and given them our order 2 weeks earlier.
The pizzas were just coming out of the ovens as we came through the doors and the pitchers of beer were being delivered to the tables.

We searched our purses and pockets for quarters and surrendered a handful to our machine-addicted little grandson. The claw machine was still a bit too difficult for him but he was thrilled to show everyone the prize he did win with all those quarters…..a small plastic bubble with a tin five-cent ring inside.

The old boom-box that gathered dust all year from our garage, was batteried up and blasting out our favorite Christmas songs.

It wasn’t just a holiday pizza-after-the-Limo-ride party, it was also a birthday party. Our youngest daughter was born the day after Christmas. So, after eating Pizza, we switched into birthday party mode.
We sang, she blew out the candles and we all ate cake… and of course, ice cream.

It was a night full of laughter and love.
When it was over, Roger and the big white looong Limo reappeared and one by one we were taken home.

We continued Limo night for longer than the next 15 years.

Two Saturdays before Christmas we’d all meet at RT Pizza, 6 o’clock sharp. Even the “always laters” were on time for this ride.

The excitement was always in the air and could be felt as we greeted each other with hugs, kisses and great big smiles.
Roger stayed behind the wheel for us for all those years and the party would begin as soon as he and the big white looong Limo pulled into the RT parking lot.

Every year the “guest list” would change a bit but always the same core group. Our two original grandkids turned into four…..three boys and a sweet little girl.  As they grew older, they brought friends and after my mom moved to California, she couldn’t wait to join us. She was 86 years old when she had her first Limo Ride. One year she even brought one of her friends who was also in her 80’s. I think they had more fun than all of us put together.

We all agreed upon a Magic Rule…the moment we stepped inside the Limo, there were no adults, we were all kids for the rest of that ride. The kids loved it and…so did we.

Roger found new and fun places to take us every year. Sometimes when in neighborhoods that went all out, he’d pull over and we’d all get out and walk the decorated street, court or cul d sac.
There was music, free popcorn and drinks and of course Santa and the Elves.

We’d ooooh and ahhhh at all the lights and displays, and get caught up in the excitement of the night with an abundance of talking, laughing, hugging each other and some sentimental I love you’s back and forth.
When we went slow on a residential street, the kids would all pop up through the sun-roof, yell out “Merry Christmas” to everyone and wave, and no one inside told them to stop!

We never thought about our last Limo Ride, never wondered when that would happen.
Why would we?
It was a magical evening every time so let it go on forever.

But, one year when 2 weeks before Christmas rolled around, we had moved three hours from our families and were living  in Pacific Grove on the Monterey peninsula.

Everyone came to our ocean home to celebrate the holiday that year.

We thought about a Monterey Limo Ride but it didn’t seem right, maybe it was time to put the Limo Rides away as wonderful,  fun memories.

So, what did we do? We sat around the table, shared our stories as we shared our dinner and then all together walked the one long block down to a beautiful spot on the Pacific Ocean.

We walked the path together above the water and stopped along the way often to look at the waves crashing against the boulders or the mama Sea Otters teaching their babies how to find, crack open and eat Abalone or the silly looking harbor seals that lied on the rocks, looked up at us and thought how silly we all looked staring down at them.

Many years have passed, our four gradchildren are now adults, some with children of their own.

Each time we see a limousine, for a moment it’s the holidays again and we’re all inside lauging, hugging and singing.

We hope it’s the same memory for our family and sometime during each Christmas season, they each stop and remember the magical times and the LIMO RIDES.