The Roanoker - November/December 2016 - 81

RECOLLECTION | HOLIDAY WONDER

The Dining Room

his arm escorted us to our table. A crisp, white, perfectly
pressed tablecloth awaited us, with green crystal water
glasses that cast little rainbows across the table. Dogwood
flowers adorned the plates, and the silver utensils were
perfectly polished-too pretty to eat with.
I don't remember what all we talked about that day
at lunch, but I know I looked around the restaurant at
all the people and thought I was the luckiest girl in the
world. I had a dad and he made me feel like the princess
I had always wanted to be from the time I knew what
princesses were.

we would have to park and walk as it must cost $50 or
more.
But instead of continuing around the roundabout, he
stopped in front of the red carpet leading up to the front
doors, the giant HR monogram highlighted in the noon
sun. A man with white gloves opened the car door for
me and I slid out. He shut the door and I stood there,
not sure what to do. Then Fearless appeared by my side,
offering me his arm and guiding me in as we made the
ascent up the stairs to the front door.
It was Christmastime and everything looked huge to
me. The Christmas tree in the foyer looked to me to be
200 feet tall, and each individual Christmas ball was as
big as my head. I could have stayed and stared at that
Christmas tree all day, but Fearless gently led me past the
estate-sized fireplace and into the grand dining room.
This is what it must be like to live in a castle, I thought
to myself as a tuxedoed waiter with a napkin draped over
THEROANOKER.COM

"This is what it's like to
live in a castle."
The Hotel
The grand roundabout set
the tone for the visit
The Family
From left, the writer's
mother, the writer and
Fearless.

AFTER BRUNCH, WE TOOK A TOUR of the Christmas trees. Each one was a work of art, one more beautiful
than the last. Each had a theme. Fearless loved trains.
He had since he was a boy so when we came upon the
train-themed tree, his eyes lit up like a school-boy, and
he even started to clap and point. Train tracks stuck out
of the tree in every direction and one solid track looped
around from the bottom to the top, with an electronic
train that went round and round. Each ornament represented part of a town-a house, a butcher shop, a school,
a park-all frosted with a light coating of snow and lit
up with Christmas lights, giving each ornament its own
soft glow. I could see memories from Fearless's childhood
flash in his old eyes and it made me love the tree too,
almost as much as he did. I guess that's how dads teach
their daughters to love things.
Now that I'm older and working in the real estate business I get to see that excited look in people's eyes all the
time. It always takes me back to that day at the Hotel
Roanoke with Fearless. There are lots of one-of-a-kind
places in these mountains, and they are what makes living
here so nice. If you have someone you care for, especially
a kid, make a date and take him or her to some special
place, because even if it seems like the norm to you-as
sometimes moments can be lost on us as we grow older-
it may mean the world to that child, and create memories
as beautiful and timeless as the morning sun. I
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | 81

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The Roanoker - November/December 2016

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