My first trip to Disneyland

Reading CK's blog ( I am not going to attempt another failed link, darn it) stimulated a memory in my head of the first time I went to Disneyland.
My Dad had a sister, my Aunt Cleo. She lived in Costa Mesa, not to far away from 'the happiest place on earth'. My parents and sisters had actually gone to DL when I was a toddler, and left me with family. I didn't get to go. But I'm not bitter. Anyhow. So my parents told us where we were going. I kind of wish they'd kidnapped us like Cami's parents. That sounds cool. But we knew we were going. My Mom told us, and saved her pennies for a long time to be able to afford it for a family of 5. Plus, we could visit Aunt Cleo. I think I was ten or eleven.
Middle sister's birthday rolled around, at the end of April. She was having her friends come over, 3 of them, if I remember correctly. They came, we were having a grand time, and Mom got home from work, with Pizza for us all. But, older sister was no where to be found. We had just recently moved to the small town we lived in, and older sister hated it, and started hanging around with "the wrong crowd". To make a long story short, she'd run away. Left a note where no one would find it, in the garage. (For some reason, she thought I would find it there, because the cat's were frequently there.). Once my mom figured out she was gone, she tried to hide her anxiety from us, and called my Dad, he had to COME HOME FROM WORK. (that, was a no-no, we were not made of money). He leaves for home, and my mom, taking me with her, drives down to one of the neighbor houses who has a girl older sister hung out with (one of the "wrong crowd".) The woman tells us she isn't there. Now my mom is crying, scared. Her daughter, her teenage daughter whom has recently discovered drugs, in a small town, is gone. We get home, and she calls the police. Who tell her that older sister is safe. She was at the house WE JUST LEFT, five minutes ago. The woman had lied to us. But she was there, had been there the whole time. Now, everyone knew what was going on. Mom is mad, and crying harder, middle sisters friends are in a very awkward position, and try to help us comfort her. Dad gets home, and in the blink of an eye, rebellious older sister is home. I don't remember much more of that night, I went to my room to escape the drama. Middle sister and her birthday friends went to the downstairs bedroom to do the same.
Over the next week, older sister ranted and raved about everything she hated. And what she hated the most was sharing a room with middle sister. She demanded my parents make the garage into a bedroom for her. We were broke. The only money we had was the money my Mom had worked so hard to save to go to Disney Land.
One afternoon, she came to me, my Mom, and told me that they were thinking they'd have to spend that money on making a bedroom, and we couldn't go to DL. She wanted to know how I felt about that. I was angry, of course. I'd been waiting a long time to go there. I told her, in ten year old speak, that older sister could go suck eggs. I wanted to go to Disneyland. I was an angry,conflicted little girl for a long time after that conversation. I didn't even look at older sister.
Fast forward, a few months. Older sister never got her bedroom. We went to DL. We saw Aunt Cleo. We had a great time. Even pissed off older sister had fun. I'm really glad my parents made the decision they did. Older and middle sister shared their room and bathroom for a few more years, until older sister graduated, and left home for good. They fought a lot down there in that room. I'm sure it wasn't pleasant. But if you think about it, we got more than a trip to DL that summer. We got taught that my parents, indeed, ran the household, and were not going to pander to the demands of a temperamental teenager. It was a summer to remember.