Alive in a hearse...

In my "Two words of mine" blog piece I touched on one of the many things I have been blessed to do along my galloping journey was to ride in the back of a hearse ALIVE...

When one is a somewhat crazy dwarf-horse-artist-hippie-theatre-wandering-fun loving hooman, one can gather quite an amusing assortment of friends and keep busy in all kinds of activities.😂

Two of my dearest best friends from theatre were John and partner Martin.  We had a large circle of both gay and straight friends who all often did a lot together.

I did not have a problem when I turned thirty as some do, because I had already had two spine surgeries I had to learn how to walk again from, besides being hospitalized on a Pediatric Oncology ward to receive a new bone marrow treatment for problems with my blood counts.  I was just thrilled to have even MADE it to thirty.😃

However, by the time I was about to turn thirty-five was another story.  I had just been diagnosed a month before my birthday with the very painful severe inflammation disease within my spinal cord and given a terrible prognosis.  No one knew exactly what to expect when, other than things would begin horribly shutting down eventually as the inflammation moves upward.  And the pain would worsen...aside from all my orthopaedic pain.

Since I was still so young and full of life, this was very hard to take.  I knew I had to keep fighting because that's what I know...what I do.  Yet it was still hard to think of celebrating a birthday in the midst of all this.

But John and Martin knew just what to do.  They knew what I was dealing with, and they also knew what a wicked sense of humor I have...and to work they went.

They wanted to help me meet my future head on, and felt what better way to help someone who was just handed a rather dire prognosis than to rent a hearse for a birthday surprise?!!🤪  To meet this thing head on with some laughter and love!😂💕

Somehow John, Martin, and all managed to keep the birthday surprise a secret from me.  Like a theatre performance everything was perfectly planned and orchestrated.  My birthday that year happened to be on a Saturday. 

That morning John called me.  

"Sweet Adelaide, dahlin,' Martin and I are picking you up at 5pm to take you out to eat and we absolutely will NOT accept "no" for an answer!"

"But what if I have other..."  

"WE know you don't dear, so you be ready at five and DRESS UP!  And honey, be sure you wear black!"

It didn't occur to me as to HOW those two knew I hadn't made any plans yet...or why I HAD to wear black!🤣

At 5pm precisely I heard a strange sounding horn tooting for me.

I stepped out the door to find a long black old style hearse waiting at the road festooned with black balloons, and both John and Martin dressed in fancy black suits at it's side...laughing.  Hysterically.🤣

So was I.😂

Of course when everyone else on the street heard the strange horn, they too came out...with shock on their faces watching the strange scene!🤔

The hearse had been remodeled thankfully.  The area which once held the coffin now had seats, of which I was flamboyantly escorted to.

Martin excitedly said, "Oh are WE going to have SO much fun tonight!"

Then both together, "Happy Birthday dahlin'!  We love you!"💕

There was room for six more, and the first stop was to pick up five friends waiting for us.  Soon we were all in and heading out to eat.  One might have thought the plan was to eat somewhere snazzy, right?!!  Not with these guys!😂

They wanted to have as much fun with the hearse as possible, so we went to...wait for it...a...car hop!🤣

Oh my gosh, you should have seen the looks on the faces of staff and other customers when we pulled up in this hearse festooned with black balloons!  At a car hop!😂

Sasha and the guys had gathered a bunch of hearse, funeral, and yes, even death jokes, then began pouring them out with gales of laughter as we all laughed hard while trying to eat.

We then made a stop at a small theatre to see...wait for it...a funny play about someone DYING...who was trying to cram some living in before going!  The cast was in on the festivities too.  When the hall was empty, we gathered on the stage, as the lights were dimmed.

Suddenly from stage right came the lead cast member carrying...a lighted birthday cake, as everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  Such fun and laughter!

Then it got serious for a bit.  I was asked what things I would yet like to do before things got worse, by Jason who played the dying one in the play.  I could think of two things at that moment.  One is something that has eluded me in being able to do, which has been a burning desire to gallop a horse on a beach.  Yet I have galloped everywhere else.🐎😃🐎💕

The other?  I said, "To always have serendipitous moments like this with friends, laughter, and horses filling my journey to the very end if possible."💕

The next stop was to our favorite bar, City Lights, which also had an amazing rock band whose lead singer, Priscilla, was a lady we all knew and loved.  Priscilla was in on the birthday festivities too and was the sixth one to join us after we closed City Lights down.

Our next stop was to all pile into a Waffle House for breakfast.  Imagine the shock when they saw a hearse pull up!😂

Finally, as the sun began coming up, I was brought back home with fanfare to where the birthday of a lifetime all began.  It certainly WAS the birthday of a lifetime!😃

So this, my dear ones, is how Adelaide had the experience of riding in a hearse.  ALIVE.🐎😂🐎💕💫