On the evening of Sunday, December 8, 2013, I was at the top of the Reunion Tower in Dallas, TX with Lena Costello. We had been staying in iced-over Dallas since the previous Thursday afternoon, and were scheduled to fly home the next day.
The Reunion Tower is a beautiful sight to see. 55 stories tall, it is capped with a globe-shaped top covered all over by white lights. Inside the round Five Sixty restaurant by Wolfgang Puck, we sat near the windows on a slowly-revolving floor to see a 360-degree, rotating, panoramic view of beautiful downtown Dallas with its skyscrapers and artistic lighting.
Up there in such a stunning setting, I decided to conduct with Lena my first interview for this new blog. Everyone’s life is full of stories to tell. The following includes just one of Lena’s delightful and engaging life stories:
This December trip to visit Dallas had been planned since the preceding February. There is no way we could have predicted or planned for the exceptionally freezing weather we encountered in the "Big D." The weekend we spent there was iced over with freezing rain, freezing fog, sleet, sludge, closed roads and airports. Motionless 18-wheelers packed truck stops and lined the sides of the interstates, unable to proceed safely forward. Lena and I were able to get out and creep around the somewhat less-affected center of the city in the afternoons, making our way back to our hotel room by dark. Each evening, the night brought an even harder freeze turning to solid ice anything that had melted or softened during the daylight hours.
But there, above the world in our temporary rotating refuge and wonderland, we were free to be ourselves, to sip expensive glasses of Riesling and share laughs, smiles, and stories.
When asked what her favorite experience in Dallas had been, Lena giggled and answered, “Kissing the tree.”
Earlier that day, we had gone walking downtown. We came across a welcoming coffee shop bragging that they served breakfast all day.
Across the street was a TGI Friday’s. After coffees and a bite to eat, we struck out for adventure and photography. There are no longer any TGI Friday’s restaurants in Baton Rouge, where we live. I got a picture of Lena hugging the Christmas-light-wrapped tree outside there. In the process, she had leaned over and given it a little peck.
One of my favorite things about Lena, and about our relationship, is the lighthearted way she (and we) can just have fun. Laugh about the little things. Every day, every experience has the potential to be fun when we are together.
Downtown Dallas boasts the Bank of America Tower, a 72-story marvel with green argon lights tracing the edges and corners of the building. Up in the Reunion Tower, I asked Lena to describe what she was seeing from her vantage point.
“I am seeing green liquid coming out of a building far away in a tower.”
Very poetic of her, I mused aloud. She continued, “It looks like…Kryptonite….”
Lena went on to tell me that the nearby Omni Hotel, with its dazzling, flashing waves and patterns of lights reminded her of Las Vegas.
“When I was 16 years old, my parents took me to Las Vegas and I dressed up and passed as 21.” Young Lena was admitted without question into the luxurious Las Vegas casinos.
Asked about her favorite thing in Las Vegas, excitement gilded Lena’s voice as she replied, “Oh, a lot! It was New Year’s… New Year’s Eve!”
Lena told me she stayed up all night having a grand time playing slots and drinking alcohol. As a 16 year-old girl, I imagine the thrill of it all was monumental to her! “I guess I can’t remember the rest,” Lena confessed with a chuckle, “because I drank so much.”
When I asked if she won any money, Lena was quick to answer, “No, I didn’t really win because… I guess I really couldn’t win because I was 16 at the time.”
In other words, even if she would have won the whole house, she couldn’t have cashed in her winnings because she was underage.
Lena added, “I was praying that I didn’t win!”
There she had been, in lighted Las Vegas, all dressed up and out on the town. I had to ask Lena if she’d been approached by any men!
“No, not at all!” she answered emphatically. Then she went on to share a short tale about her interaction with one particular fellow.
“There was one guy, after New Year’s, who had a New Year’s Eve hat. It was like a cowboy hat… he took it off my head! And I’ll never forget that day. He stole it from me. He just took it off my head and just walked away.”
Soon, the conversation turned back to Dallas. I asked Lena what she’d thought of the weather since we’d been there.
“I love it! Ice!” Continuing, she compared the freezing Dallas weather to, “Ice Capades!” Said Lena, “Icicles, frozen ice...!”
I lived in Dallas for about 5 years in the early 2000’s. The metroplex had large-scale ice and snow MAYBE twice during that period but never to this massive extent. So I asked Lena what she thought about the fact that such weather “never, ever, EVER happens except for the weekend we’ve come?”
“Only when Lena comes,” she smiled.
“Tomorrow, we’ll be going home,” I said to Lena. “What’s your favorite thing about going home?”
“Um, my favorite thing?…” she pondered briefly… “is my bed!”
“Okay! Thank you, Lena!”
“Thank you, Nicole!”
“I love you!”
“I love you too!”
So we decided to stop sipping with our glasses still ¼ full and take the minute-long elevator down to the first floor, through the adjoining Hilton and out into the cold where we continued our adventures until it was time to head to the room and pack!
I love hearing her stories.
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Written and copyrighted by Nicole Henderson
Photographs copyright of Nicole Henderson
December 11, 2013
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