It is Monday, February 27, 2017, at 5:57 PM CST. I am sitting at the kitchen table.

When I was preparing for this trip, I knew that there were going to be a few challenges that I would have to face along the way.

For example, my daughter LOVES her mother. I knew that even though we would be out and about in the world having a good time, my daughter would eventually miss her mom. I did not want to turn around, have to fly her back, or have to do anything else outrageous.

Enter this woman...

The woman pictured above is my daughters grandmother. Her name is Cathy, She is pictured with her husband, my daughters grandfather. His name is Kike. I couldn't think of a better person to alleviate any anxiety my daughter may have had due to being away from home than her grandmother.

About a year ago, my daughters grandparents moved to Arlington, TX. They did a great job raising six wonderful children that have now become admirable young adults. Since all of the children have left home, Maecee's grandparents decided to migrate south.

Now even though Arlington is a beautiful area, they too get homesick. They are used to a house with a lot of family, a lot of activity, and a lot going on in it. Keeping that information in mind, I figured that this visit would mutually benefit my daughters grandparents just as much as it would benefit my daughter.

I wanted this visit to be a surprise. You cannot just surprise people in their home though. So a day before we arrived, I had my daughters mother reach out to my daughters grandmother and let her know we would be coming. Here is what happened when we arrived...

That is love. Honestly for me, there is no joy in this world like actually seeing love.

There have been so many examples of love that I have seen on this experience. He is another...

---

This is Lou.

Lou moved to Fort Worth(the city adjacent to Arlington) with her family a few years ago. While I knew her during her time in Allentown... we never really spoke. It was mostly just "hi and bye."

Once I began blogging, Lou became one of the readers. She enjoyed it. In one of my blog posts I advised the readers that if anyone ever wanted to talk, vent, or anything else.. they could always reach out to me.

One night while I was at home wide awake doing nothing at 3 am, Lou did indeed reach out to me. We had a conversation. She did not really have any issues or anything... she just wanted to talk. We sent messages back and forth for a few hours. We had other conversations on other days. She was cool, and we became friends.

When I arrived in Arlington, I reached out to Lou to let her know that I was in town. Lou is extremely artsy and eclectic, so I wanted Lou to show me that part of town.

On the morning after we arrived in Arlington, I invited Lou to Cathy's house. As I mentioned earlier, Lou moved to Texas with her family. Her mother was also in town. I know her mother, so I invited her mother over to the house too. You remember her mother. She is the woman in this picture in my previous blog post...

Come to find out, Lou and her mother had not spoken in over a year. Lou ended up moving in with her boyfriend.  A mother and daughter ultimately went their separate ways. When I found this out, I knew having them come over at the same time was the right thing to do.

It is so weird how these things end. You think things are going to go one way, but they end up going the complete opposite direction.

Lou got to the house first. We hugged, welcomed each other, caught up, etc. etc.

A few minutes later, her mother showed up. Uh oh.

As soon as Louisa stepped through that door, she walked directly toward her daughter and gave her a hug. Lou embraced her mother with just as much affection as her mother did her. Whatever they were at odds over did not matter in that moment. Love brought them back together.

Anyway... I was going to capture the moment on film, but I kind of got caught up in it. I just wanted to let it happen. I was a beautiful site to see.

---

After hanging out for a while, Lou and her younger sister took my son and me to Forth Worth. We were going to meet her boyfriend, go out to eat, and go to an art show. Here is a photo of us...

Lous's boyfriends name is Lee. He is really nice, and I am very happy I was able to meet him. We ate at a restaurant named Spiral, which was a delicious vegan restaurant. We then ended up at an Art Gallery, where Lou's friend was having an exhibit.

This is Lou's friend. Meet Dontrius "Donnie" Williams.

Donnie is a photographer. His work was being displayed in a gallery in Ft. Worth. Here is a flyer for the event...

There are a few reasons I wanted to go to the event. For one, I love art. It is that simple. Secondly, I wanted my son to attend the show and meet the artist. My son takes pictures and posts them on his blog, as I had mentioned in a previous post. I wanted him to see how that can be taken to the next level. Thirdly, I wanted to pick the brain of the artist as well. 

Here is some of his work... 

My son liked the show too. He actually loved it. They served beverages. They had a DJ and people were dancing. There were a lot of young and artsy people just intermingling and having a good time. Here is a video...

Pictures...

 Koi taking pictures of the art

Here is a picture of Koi and Donnie. This conversation was very important to me. This is an educational experience. If you have a goal in life... who better to talk to than the person doing exactly what you want to do? Koi told me that Donnie dropped some gems on him. It was greatly appreciated.

I was thankful to have the opportunity to have some one on one time with Donnie too. He is a really nice guy. He is a TRUE artist. Our conversation was extremely insightful to me and I am grateful for it.

Here is a picture of us...

While in mid conversation, he subconsciously slipped into artist mode. He told me not to move. He pulled out his camera, focused the lens, and took two pictures of me. He then put his camera down, and acted like it never happened. I honestly don't even know if he realized what he did. It was extremely interesting to see an artist in their zone.

For the most part, Arlington was all about family. There was one non-family related activity that I really wanted to do while I was in Arlington though. That activity was to tour AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

This may surprise a lot of people, but I am not a big fan of football and I am not particularly a Cowboys fan(even though I do like some of their young players). What I am a fan of though is IMAGINATION... and that is what AT&T Stadium represents.

AT&T stadium is the reality of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wildest dream. The place is unbelievable. Every luxury that a person can imagine is located in that facility. The stadium holds just about every record in every statistical category when it comes to being grandiose.

I wanted my children to understand that this amazing stadium was at one point just an idea. A person just like them took that idea and made it into a thing. I want my children to understand that they too can come up with an idea as grandiose as possible, and if they truly believe in it and constantly strive towards making it a reality... it can be achieved. Here are some pictures...

I got Jules a keychain

We also made some videos... 

My kids and mom think this is funny. Well at least the end... 

We really enjoyed our time in Arlington. There is SO MUCH MORE TO THIS. I have so much content for a "real" all encompassing documentary eventually. I did want to tell one more story about Arlington.

---

My daughters grandmother and I did not always get along. We always loved each other, but there were times where we went at it. There were also times where we got personal, were disrespectful to each other, and at times crossed the line.

Our main issue was religion and spirituality. My daughters grandmother has a strong belief in GOD, while I spent the majority of my life an atheist. We have sat across from each other at many tables, have debated for many hours, over the course of many years.

While in Arlington, I wanted to talk to my daughters grandmother about GOD. I wanted to tell her I was sorry. I also wanted to let her know that I was wrong, and that I have come to a revelation. I now believe in a "GOD."

Rewind back to 1988. I was 8 years old. I can remember the EXACT moment I realized I was going to die. It was the middle of the night. It was dark. I was crying. I was scared. I remember my blanket. Ever since that moment I have studied religion. Ever since that moment I was attempting to figure out why I was here. I honestly feel like it may have contributed to me getting sick. I was fixated on it. I could not let it go.

Ever since then I studied science. I studied math. I studied numerology, metaphysics, and everything else in between. Something had to eventually make sense.

After 28 years of research, study, and inquisition... I have changed my stance. I believe in "GOD" in the form of "Intelligent Design." I believe that we have a creator. I believe it. That is were I am at as of right now. The reason for me coming to this revelation is truly too complex for me to explain in this setting.

Do we have free will? Will there be an afterlife? Do we have a purpose? I am still attempting to answer those questions. But I wholeheartedly believe that humanity was created.

I can't believe I just wrote that. Everyone that I have told this to did not believe that I said it either. If you know me, I am pretty sure that you cannot believe that you just read this too.

So that is it. Our time in Arlington is complete. This stop was a success. I ave a bunch of pictures, but I wanted to end this with just one...

Look at their faces. That is pure joy. That is love. 

Like I stated in the beginning of the post, I knew a few challenges would arise on this experience. My daughter definitely did miss her mother. The visit with her grandmother was extremely beneficial to everyone involved. My daughter was relaxed. She told me that she was ready to continue. My daughters grandmother was happy. That plan worked.

As we were leaving Arlington, a new challenge that I knew was going to arise began to occur. I began to get homesick too. I knew there was only one way I was going to resolve this issue. The answer to that problem is in video form...

;-)

Much more coming soon. LOVE.