Memories

For five winters, room 1103 of the Hotel Fort Des Moines was my home.
As a child I LOVED the story of Eloise at the Plaza. I dreamed of living a glamorous life in the heart of the city and ordering room service.
Many years later, a modified version of my dream came true. I lived in a downtown hotel, not in New York, but in Des Moines, and I never once ordered room service.
Some of our life's chapters have an indescribable cache.....Des Moines is that for me. Who could imagine spending 5 winters (that is how I count my time in Iowa) as a resident of this old hotel in the heart of the midwest?
As I drove by the hotel on my cruise through DSM the other day, I just had to park and capture a long ago moment. Sometime I will share the luscious stories of hotel living, including the short time Tiny Tim and I both occupied the hotel, or knowing "Gopher" from the loveboat stayed in my room while he was running for Congress from Iowa, or sitting in a chair during an Iowa caucus and seeing national candidates huddled in conference surrounded by network news people........fun stuff.
Too often our memories pain us. Too often we look back and suffer. I certainly have my share of those experiences, but the Hotel Fort Des Moines always makes me smile. It was a grand gift from God and one I will always treasure.