TOOLBAG TUESDAY

My friend Brenna’s birthday was coming up, and the guy she was dating, Nick, suggested they go to New York to celebrate.

Nick's family owned a fancy condo with another family and it was empty that weekend --- a perfect place to celebrate.

Brenna was excited about the trip. She loves New York and these accommodations were far more luxurious than sleeping on the couch at her friend’s tiny apartment.

And it made her feel good that Nick suggested the trip in the first place. He liked her enough to travel on a plane from New Orleans to New York with her!!

SCORE!!!

Brenna and Nick knew each other in high school, but had never considered dating or even becoming good friends until 10 years later.

They both found themselves back in New Orleans after being away for school, and started going out on cute dates to the nicest restaurants in the city.

One night, after a delicious dinner, Nick said they had to buy their plane tickets to New York that night.

They decided to pay for their own tickets separately, with Nick expressly stating that the ticket was the only thing Brenna would be paying for during their entire New York excursion.

“You’re really serious?” Brenna asked before clicking “PURCHASE TICKET.”

“Oh yea,” Nick said. “The condo is amazing. We can walk to all these places.”

The whole thing was so romantic. They’d go to a museum, maybe catch a Broadway show, eat their way through the city.

(After purchasing the tickets, they went to bed...to celebrate.)

The trip was two weeks away. Brenna got in touch with her friends who live in New York to plan a night they could all go to dinner.

She was excited for them to meet Nick, the man who liked her so much he invited her to stay with him at his parents’ New York condo for a weekend.

The whole thing was shaping up to be the best birthday ever.

Brenna even went shopping for new clothes, a birthday present to herself.

Then, TWO DAYS before the trip, Nick came over.

With no warning or real reason, he said, “I’m sorry…but I’m not feeling this relationship anymore.”

Brenna’s jaw dropped. She suddenly felt weak standing up.

“Wait…what?” she asked shocked.

“I don’t think this is going to work out,” Nick said.

Brenna was furious and embarrassed. What happened?

All of her and Nick's hopes and dreams shattered in her head.

“What about New York?” she asked.

“I’m canceling my ticket,” Nick said. “But you should still go. You’ve got friends there, right?”

Brenna felt like throwing a fit.

WHY WOULD SHE WANT TO GO ALONE?? This was supposed to be their trip TOGETHER! IN HIS PARENTS’ CONDO!!

She had just spent $300 for a plane ticket!! For a trip HE SUGGESTED!

Brenna hadn’t even considered getting travel insurance to refund her ticket. But really, who can predict a canceled flight due to a toolbag who "isn't feeling it" for some reason TWO DAYS before your trip???

ON YOUR BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

Brenna ended up saying "eff it" and taking the trip to New York by herself.

She arranged to stay with her friends and still had a good time going to dinner, museums and a Broadway show.

I suppose there are worse things than celebrating your birthday in New York.

Like having your birthday beach vacation get rained out because of a Tropical Storm.

Which is exactly what happened for Nick's birthday at a beach house this past Labor Day weekend.

It had been clear and sunny for the past month and right as the weekend began, the sky opened up and everyone got pummeled with rain for all three days.

Brenna smiled more than once thinking about it.

I guess God just wasn’t feeling his birthday this year.

-Jenny