This also must pass...

As it happens to all things, this vacation also must pass. That was the sentence in my mind all the way home.

Being in Disney was a dream. A dream I had never dreamed of as a child, but a dream nonetheless. Was I in the same place I had seen on TV so many times? Was I really in the place where only well-off Brazilian kids get to go when they turn 15?

Then Universal Studios and the world of Harry Potter as its main attraction. Really I was there, in Hogwarts, the place I had never really cared about, where the little wizard guy I never really cared much about learned his tricks, was now the place I did not want to leave ever again. It was like living a dream.

I did not want those days to end. And they were such long days that indeed they seemed as if they would never end.Thursday night however reminded me that my last day in the land of dreams was coming. One more day, and this too must pass.

I made it a point of enjoying every minute of my last day, so that the thought would not cross my mind until I was done.

And from 8:30 am till 12 am, I was livin' it! As we entered the tram to drive back to the parking lot of the last park - Disney's Magic Kingdom - I then realized it was over. Back to old lives, back to reality. The moment we returned the rental car and entered that airport; the moment we did the check-in; the moment we went through security and entered the boarding area. Each moment felt like the buzzing of the alarm clock, calling me back to the life I really lead. The life made up of responsibilities, housecleaning, homework, paychecks.

What keeps me going through this old real life? Well, there's that guy who goes with me in every dream - my husband, he does not go away in the end. There's that person who has been with me forever and graciously allows me dreams-come-true experiences, my God. And there's the fact that I am always planning my next dream-come-true experience.

Other than that I'd be a liar if said real life is bad. Real life really is not bad, it's just filled with grown-up responsibilities, dead-lines, and hard work that must be done whether or not I feel like it.

Dreams allow me to do exactly what I want, and they are all about the fun. Real life tells me either I do certain things that are not fun at specific times and with a specific intensity, or fun will never be possible again.

Real life is the back stage of dreams - it must be there, but it does not look as glamorous.