The Whirlwind, Part 2

Part 1 of my blog covered all the things that made our trip a good one. In Part 2 you’ll understand why I consider it was a great one!

Family! (Bride's side)

The best part of the trip was seeing family from far and wide that I haven’t seen in many (sadly, too many) years. Thanks to a family reunion (my side) we fortunately got to see almost everyone including…

Mom and her significant other, Harry
Uncle Ray and his wife, Karen
Bob and Pattie, with their kids Jason and Joshua, and their kids, Logan and Lilliana
Jim and Maggie, with Jim’s daughter Chelsea
Christine and Jerry, with their kids, Rebecca, Patrick and Elizabeth
John and Heather, with their kids, Tyler, Hunter and Kailey

The whole gang

Christine, Mom and me

Jim, Bob and John, with Christine, Mom and me*

*BTW, for anyone curious, I'm the oldest -- hard to believe, huh?

Harry, Maggie and Mom

Pattie and Bob

Heather and John, with Tyler, Hunter and Kailey

Jim and Maggie

My nieces, Elizabeth and Rebecca, with my great-niece, Lilliana

And cousins…

Sallieann and her husband, Ralph, with their son Nicholas
Darleen and her husband, Christopher, with their son Murphy
Susan, who flew in from Bermuda
Allison, with her daughter Samantha, who came in from upstate New York
Tara, who could only stay a little while but managed to find time to snag a little sangria

Susan and me

Sallieann and Ralph

Allison and Samantha

And people who we consider family, like Joan and Nick, my mom's oldest and dearest friends.

Nick and Joan

Joan and Mom

The weather was gorgeous, the food was amazing and the happiness and love was simply overflowing. These are the people with whom I share some of the most wonderful memories.

Family! (Groom's side)

On two separate occasions (including the 60th birthday celebration for my sister-in-law, Judy), we also got to see the side of my husband’s family that almost all now live in Maryland, including many nieces and nephews who have grown into lovely young women and men.

The birthday party took place the first weekend after we’d arrived, and with a lot of planning and a little deviousness on the part of my nephew-in-law, we made sure we were available for it. It took place at a Chinese restaurant in Silver Spring, not far from our old stomping grounds. Harriette and Augie were the only ones who knew we were coming, and I’m pretty sure my sisters-in-law were all pretty shocked that we were there. It was a heartwarming feeling to see how happy we made Judy by sharing her special day. It had been a long time since we’d last seen Sly’s side of the family – in some cases more than 7 years – so it was lovely being able to catch up with…

Sisters-in-law Stella and Paulina (the matriarchs of the clan)
Judy and her husband, Sark, and their daughters, Harriette and Serwah
Lucy and her husband, Osei, with their children, Nana Yaw, Akuamwuah and Obiniwah (who have all become quite Americanized – it was weird hearing their friends refer to Akuamwuah as Edwin, and Obiniwah as Stella – or maybe we’re too Ghanaianized?)

All of the people who love Judy.

Serwaah, Judy and Harriette

Stella, Judy and Lucy

Last, but certainly not least, we were lucky enough to catch up with Sly’s son, Jules, and spend at least a couple of hours with him. We haven’t seen Jules for many (too many) years; he has grown into nothing less than I ever expected him to be.

Jules, with Alex Sean and Michael

Friends!

Old friends (and older friends), and new cyber friends – we saw as many as we could.

I reminisced with Fran and Lori (separately) about our days in Lloyds Bank (could that really have been 25 years ago?!). Neither have changed much, and they are both still the same amazing funny women I came to know and love way back when.

Me and Fran

We also stayed with Leslie (whom I met in Ghana nearly two years ago) in Maryland for a few days and we had a blast! My kids count the trip to Dave and Busters as the second best day of their lives (and I can't download the pix I took as someone took them in high definition!). I liked the fact that her house was so livable, and not a museum – my kids felt right at home (though, maybe a little too at home). Many, many thanks to Pam, Eric and Adam for putting up with us all.

We also paid a visit to (and had a delicious Jamaican jerk chicken) Tracy-Ann’s house (which is in our old Maryland neighborhood – how’s that for a coincidence!).


We also met some of our CWD cyber friends.

Amanda and Rosemary!

Our first meet up with CWD friends was at McDonald’s Play Place in Leonardo, NJ with Rosemary and Amanda. Rosemary is a typical Jersey girl (and likely why we got on so well together) and Amanda is a cutie par excellence. Despite the age difference, she and Alex had so much fun!

Amanda and Alex -- what a pair of cuties, eh?

Jenny and Caro!

Then, early on a Sunday morning, we rode the train into New York’s Penn Station to stay a few days with Caro, her husband Hans, and their amazing, talented and vivacious daughter, Jenny Mollet!

(Oh, funny story, we got a little lost in Manhattan – not really lost, just couldn’t find the street I wanted and thought I was headed in the wrong direction – so I stop a man on the street who was directing people to a tour of the Empire State Building to ask for help. He’s got a familiar accent so I ask him where he’s from. “Ghana,” he says. “So are we,” I reply. Small world, eh?)

Fortunately, Caro found us and herded us downtown to watch Jenny who was performing in the musical Aida, along with a very talented group of young men and women (Jenny was cast as one of the Nubian singers!). I wasn’t sure how the kids were going to like it – the boys are more into action and maiming and killing than a love story (even if there is killing involved), and I didn’t know if Alex would sit still long enough. Alex kept asking me during every ovation, “is it over?” And then when I’d reply, no, she’d start clapping with glee. Guess she liked it. The boys, too, kept asking when it would be over, but that was because they were hungry. Boys. Gotta love ‘em.

Alex and one of the cast from Aida

After some pizza, we rode the subway up to Harlem. Caro had generously offered us a place to stay in her home (which, by the way, was only about two blocks from where my husband used to live and the site of our humble beginnings as a couple – and boy, has Harlem ever changed! For the better! Back then, I was the only white person for blocks and blocks – hmmm, I am beginning to see a pattern here).

64 Edgecombe where history began!

On our second day in the Big Apple, we rode the bus down to Central Park. Caro and I enjoyed the beautiful weather and yakking it up (she is so easy to talk to!) as we tried to keep an eye on the girls who were running through the sprinklers and swinging on the swings. After a while, Caro went to look for the girls and was gone only a single minute when I spotted Alex kind of dragging Jenny toward us. Jenny had that washed-out look that Alex (usually) gets when she’s low, so I pointed Caro out to Alex and told her to run and bring her back. When Alex came back with Caro, I made her stop and check herself, too. She was also low (an ugly 2.3 mmol or 50 mg if you're keeping track). Then I felt bad that I had sent Alex off running like that, but she certainly didn’t seem to be acting low. (I hate that, by the way; I’d rather that she acts low as Jenny did, so I am prepared for the number on the meter. Alex’s low came as a complete surprise.) Fortunately, we were well stocked with juice boxes and glucose tabs and it didn’t take too long for the girls to perk back up. (And the nearby hot dog stand helped a lot, too. There was no way I could resist the temptation – I admit, I had 3 – with the works!)

Alex and Jenny, wet, but happy

Later we took a little walk down 6th Avenue, passing by the very cool Jekyll and Hyde Club.

Jenny and Alex


Mike outside Jekyll and Hyde Club with a new friend

Then we did some shopping at the American Girl Doll Store (never again) and the Nintendo Store (also, never again), before stopping to eat at the absolutely bone-chilling Applebee’s restaurant – Caro had to run out and buy a sweatshirt for Jenny who was freezing, and Alex threw the pajamas top that I’d bought for her at the American Girl Doll store over her clothes. I am thinking that the frigid temps in there are merely a ploy to force patrons to eat quickly and get out!

Alex and SpongeBob (cost $1)

Alex and her new American Girl Doll (cost? Waaaay more than $1)

Maddie and Sarah!

On Tuesday, we met Sarah and Maddie who came down from Connecticut, and we all rode the Staten Island ferry to Staten Island (duh) and back, then roamed around downtown a bit (where the smells of the gyro truck were just too mouth-watering to bypass – I hadn’t had a gyro in more than 7 years! Yum-O!). Then we headed down to the South Street Seaport. There, we watched some street performers (who were kind of crappy in comparison to Jenny’s troupe of friends), and enjoyed Haagen Dazs ice cream.

Jenny, Sean, Mike and Alex

Maddie, Alex and Jenny

We left for home on Wednesday with wonderful memories of a great time and even greater new friends.

The CWD Moms!

Toward the end of August we had a planned outing with a group of CWD moms in Virginia. The weather was really threatening, but we figured we were there more for the camaraderie than the swimming so onward we charged (this was just Alex and me at this point).

Me, Ashley, Barbie, Nancy, Becky, Misty, Frannie, Loren and Barb

It was like meeting old friends. And so it was.

So, there you have it. The most amazing trip ever.

The Whirlwind, Part 1

As I sit here reflecting on our vacation, I took a look back over my “bucket list” (as some of you called it, though at the time I wasn’t entirely sure why), and I am gratified to say that, with only a single exception, I fulfilled all of my desires. And then some. What an amazing whirlwind (yes, despite the fact that we were there for amazing 42 days, it was still a whirlwind) trip we had to the states.

The flight out of Accra was uneventful (thank God), and the children and I touched down at Philadelphia Airport right on time and walked out to find our stretch limo (the best part of the trip so far) waiting to take us to my mother’s house. The limo pick-up was a gift from my lovely mom who couldn’t wait to see her favorite (just kidding, sweet sister!) daughter and her ready-to-be-spoiled-even-more-than-they-already-are grandchildren.

Mom and her significant other, Harry, and their little (and hyper!) Boston Terrier, Buddy, waited for us on the porch and rushed (well, as much as a septuagenarian and her octogenarian partner could rush) down to meet us at the curb. The homecoming was the one of my dreams, and I didn’t even try not to cry. You can’t stop the tides, can you? Our first day involved a lot of hugging, eating, talking and laughing. Maybe even a little bit more crying. As far as I'm concerned, it was the perfect first day, one that I ended with the hug and kiss I'd wanted to give so badly.

Now, I don't want to give you a blow-by-blow of the events (you do have a life, elsewhere, don’t you?), here are some (Part 1) of the Bucket List highlights of our trip.

Fast food! I am somewhat chagrined to admit that we indulged in fast food more than once (truth be told waaayyyy more than once). Why, we hadn’t even left Dulles Airport and we’d eaten at Wendy’s twice that very first day (breakfast and lunch)! Suffice to say that I clearly understand why I weigh 20 lbs less in Ghana than I do in the U.S. By the end of the trip, we’d visited (in no particular order of favoritism) Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Chick-Fil-A, White Castle and Pizza Hut; some of them more than once (waaayyyy more than once).

Coffee! Oh, did I ever enjoy real coffee, in every way, shape and form (caffeinated, half-caff, with milk, with flavored cream, hot and iced). I now know how to operate nearly every brand coffee maker in the U.S. – a skill I had to learn as the early riser in nearly every home we visited overnight. Besides regularly ingesting fresh brews at mom’s house, Christine’s house, Pattie’s house, Heather’s house, Fran’s house (and Frannie, that is a really cool coffee maker you’ve got there!), I grande-ed at Starbucks, 7-11 and Dunkin Donuts (naturally, I had to buy some donuts while we were there... doest that count as fast food?).

Diet Coke! If I ever see another can of Diet Coke again I will throw up. Just kidding! I have to admit I drank through many, many cases of Diet Coke. But, hey, when you can buy four 12 packs for only $10, how could I resist?

Gasoline! Pumping my own gas is totally over-rated. And so is buying gas in gallons, for that matter. We were fortunate enough to have the use of my brother’s amazing Ford Excursion while in the states, and it was a dream to drive and easily held us and all of our junk. But that car sucks down gas like a diabetic with a high blood sugar drinks water (sorry, my CWD friends, I couldn’t resist). I was constantly stopping to fill or top off the tank, to the tune of nearly $600 worth. Still cheaper than a rental, right?

Pizza! We indulged in pizza more than once (including on the first day), and it was kind of interesting to note that it didn’t really matter where we bought the pizza from – it was always still better than Ghana pizza. Except for Pizza Hut – that was gross – my pizza is better than Pizza Hut.

Mail Delivery! Every day (except Sunday, of course) there was mail delivery. And more often than not there was Debbie, a sweet lady and my mom’s personal mail courier (just kidding, she really does work for USPS), who was bringing boxes and mail for us, either from stuff we ordered or diabetic supplies being donated.

Credit Cards! Better I should have buried them in a block of ice… Target, Walmart, BestBuy, Game Stop, RiteAid, PayLess Shoes, American Girl Store, Nintendo World, etc., etc. Need I say more?

To be continued…