I attended Horrorhound Weekend in Cincinnati this weekend. I had a great time with great friends. Horrorhound Weekend is a convention dedicated to Horror Movies and the community around them. Whether you think that's cool or weird, you're right.
The primary function of these conventions is to meet your favorite actors, directors, and writers. You are given the opportunity to interact with them, snap photos, and get their autograph. I've met quite a few celebrities at these things, and I've had a lot of fun doing it. (I met Bruce Campbell this weekend...and yes, he was awesome.) Along with the celebrities, there's merchandise, discussion panels, costumes, and lots of other random stuff.
Attending the con this weekend reminded me of Tiffany's first, and only, con experience. Tiffany was never a "horror fan", but she would watch scary movies with me when she was in the mood to watch one. She liked ones that were well done (i.e. The Shining), and she liked some of the funny ones I'd occasionally get her to watch (i.e. Sleepaway Camp). All of that being said, Tiffany never planned on attending a Horror Con with me. She never discouraged my attendance, she would just pat me on the head and encourage me to go have fun.
Well, all of that changed last September. Tiffany caught wind that my friend Chad's wife, Nichole, was going to Horrorhound in Indy. Then, she found out that my friend Vinny's wife, Sandy, was going. Tiffany likes hanging out with Nichole and Sandy, so now she wants to know why she doesn't get to go. (Funny how that works isn't it?) Obviously, taking Tiffany to a Horror Con never crossed my mind. But, I figured, if the other wives are going she'll have fun.
So, for my birthday, Tiffany bought us weekend passes for Horrorhound and booked us a hotel room. I was one happy husband.
Now, I'm not sure what she had in mind. But, as we pulled into the hotel/convention center parking lot, Tiffany starts to realize what she'd gotten herself into. She looks around and says, "There's going to be a lot of weird people here, aren't there?" After I contain my laughter, I say "Honey, you're with me...and my friends...at a horror movie convention." (This was not too different from her reaction when I took her to a David Allan Coe concert...which was also for my birthday. I see a trend here...)
We parked the car, checked into the hotel, and headed over to the convention to meet up with our friends. After the initial shock wore off, Tiffany had a great time. She enjoyed seeing the costumes (pictured below with Freddy and Jason), she liked seeing the celebrities, and she got to see what all the fuss was about. In fact, Tiffany was with me the only time I got to see Robert Englund (the actor who played Freddy Krueger). We were waiting in line to go into a DJed pajama party, hosted by the con, when we looked up and saw Robert Englund shooting a strange look at the staff person next to us who was shouting instructions. We were 5 feet from him. (I didn't get to meet him the next day, my only goal of the weekend, because his line was sold out within minutes of the door opening.) She and I had a good laugh about seeing him in such a confused state.
After it was all said and done, she had fun and she enjoyed hanging out with our friends. But, she informed me that she never needed to go to another one again. I saw that one coming from a mile away.
Those con memories were on my mind this weekend as I attended my first con since the accident. I'm glad that she went with me last September, it's a really nice memory to keep. (A funny side note. Not long after that con, Tiffany and I were at our friends Jaimie and Kevin's wedding when we randomly ran into a horror actor in the lobby of the hotel at 2am after the reception. It was Ari Lehman, he played the child Jason Voorhees who jumps out of the lake at the end of Friday the 13th. She remembered seeing him at the con and thought it was awesome that we ran into him in public. Not to mention that he was super friendly as well.)
But, those memories can come at a cost too. Although they make me smile and laugh, they still remind me of how much I miss her. I got a little misty eyed (that's a lie, I was crying) during the drive home from Cincy yesterday. I realized that not only do I miss making new memories with her, I miss not having her to come home to. You never realize that part of the enjoyment of going to do fun stuff is tied up in having someone to come home to and telling them all about it. It was never hard for me to leave friends and fun events in the past because I knew that I got to go home to my best friend. That's gone now, and that sucks. It sucks coming back to our empty home. I don't hate the house, I love the house. But, I loved it more when it was our house. Now, it's our house minus one. And, it's a damn weird feeling to be lonely in the home you built with someone else.
But, enough of that. I said that this post wasn't going to get heavy, so I'll save it for the next one.
Grace and Peace,
Robert
No comments:
Post a Comment