I was supposed to be in Dallas today. I was supposed to meet my sister from Houston, and we were going to celebrate my 80th birthday. We had planned to do something of a sentimental journey in our hometown, driving past the many different houses we lived in and the many schools we attended. The icing on the birthday cake was lunch at the downtown Neiman Marcus in the Zodiac room. It was almost shut down last year, and I wanted to see it one last time before it closes permanently. These things were on my agenda for today, but you know…best laid plans.
One of the reasons why this was going to be so nostalgic, is that my sister and I spent many, many hours in downtown Dallas. My siblings and I can now laugh at our misadventures, but we all marvel that we managed to grow into adults. God was watching out for us. Even at an early age, my parents would put my sister and I on a bus heading into downtown and tell us to be back by dinner time. As we moved into our teen years these downtown forays turned into shopping trips. Mostly just looking because we never had much money. Looking and a good bit of dreaming.
Those were days before shopping malls, so most of the department stores were concentrated downtown. And there were so many nice stores. Our favorite place was Titche’s. If we didn’t have much money we would eat a chili dog in the bargain basement. But if we were flush, we ate Turkey Mornay upstairs in the tearoom and oohed and gushed over the models that would stroll through the dining area.
If we really had extra money, we would eat at the Zodiac Room. A special restaurant in a special store. I can still remember Helen Corbett’s famous poppyseed dressing. At that time there was only one Neiman Marcus, and what a fabulous store it was! Celebrities and socialites would fly in from all over the world to shop there. Just walking in the front door was an experience because you were immediately hit with wonderful sights and smells. I never shopped in the designer area on the second floor, but I can still remember exactly where the junior department was. Again, just looking.
Sidebar: When I was in high school, I was in Junior Achievement (Is that still a thing?). Our sponsor was Neiman Marcus That sounded wonderful to me. I didn’t realize that my good friend Vivian and I would be riveting sheet metal into containers for milk cartons. Nothing very posh about that. What I remember most is our supervisor, a young buyer from Neiman’s who was just starting his career. His name was Roger Horchow. He went on to do quite well for himself with The Horchow Collection.
Soon after those days, shopping malls came to the suburbs and the landscape of downtown Dallas, like all downtowns, changed. I miss those days, especially driving downtown to see the Christmas lights and the beautifully decorated department store windows. Filling my Amazon cart doesn’t quite have the same panache as shopping downtown.
Even though we had to cancel our trip, I was only mildly disappointed. We might reschedule. Or not. While I had this trip on my calendar, God did not. The Bible tells me that every day of my life, every second, has already been recorded in God’s book (Psalm 139:16) I have learned to hold onto plans loosely. I can’t imagine that not going to Dallas today is a part of some great cosmic plan, but evidently it is God’s plan for me. And cancelled plans means I get to spend a day at home, my favorite place. So I will hang out with my husband and doggies, doing a little reading and maybe some crafting. That actually sounds heavenly to me.
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