Another Road Trip...

Just returned from another road trip.  Went to Florida this time to visit family - Ed's brother Mike, his wife Lot, and kids Tony, Gina and Vinnie.  They live on Merritt Island, just minutes from the beach.  I often forget how much I like Florida till I arrive; there's nothing prettier than a row of stately palm trees silhouetted against a sunny blue sky.  The landscape just shouts out, "Beach!"

We started out Monday and drove to Savannah, where we had a reservation in the Historic district.  Spent some time walking along the river, bought some pralines (a favorite of mine), then headed to Uncle Bubba's for dinner.  Uncle Bubba's Oyster House is situated outside town on a marsh; there was a wait for an inside table so we took one out on the deck.  I was happily surprised to learn there are some resident cats in the vicinity of the deck and they will approach customers in the hopes of being fed.  They were the highlight of my evening!  Ed was more interestered in the grilled oysters, which came from Apalachicola and were very good!  After the oysters and a seafood dip we split a "Full Bubba" - shrimp, scallops, oysters and catch of the day - and couldn't come close to finishing it.  A nice evening in a favorite city!

Drove the rest of the way to Merritt Island the next day.  We always have a good visit with Mike and Lot and this time was no exception.  Lot's a great cook and they are both congenial hosts.  I feel very at home there.  Three year old Vinnie is a charmer and immediately jumped in the pool to show off his rather impressive swimming skills to Uncle Bud and Aunt Gail.

The plan was to just relax and visit.  Henry, their other brother, was coming over from the Gulf side for a visit on Thursday.  We would relax around the pool and feast on shrimp.  Unfortunately, Henry had a stroke on Wednesday!  After a flurry of phone calls to gather information and let other family members know, we made a plan to drive across state to see Henry.  The trip was an arduous one; Mike got lost at least three times, making the three hour drive in only four and a half hours!  On the upside, Vinnie traveled like a trooper, never once getting whiney or cranky.  Most importanly, we saw Henry - he is recovering, the few symptoms he has are expected to resolve and he returned home on Saturday.

We returned home to NC on Friday and have been spending the weekend with Ed's boys.  Tim and Alex came down from Michigan and NY to celebrate Tim's birthday, which means lots of good meals at both Mark's house and ours!

We're already planning our next trip to Merritt Island...for Thanksgiving.

Reunited and It Feels So Good...

I was excited and nervous.  Excited to finally be seeing Laura after so many years and a little nervous that our reunion might not live up to my expectations.  We've been in touch online for over a year now and have found many things we have in common.  I was twenty-one the last time we saw each other ...and she was nine.  Now we are sixty and forty-eight...with a lifetime of experiences behind us.  What if we turned out to be two strangers?  I was also going to be meeting her husband and two sons - my great nephews.  How would that go?

Laura and Aunt Gail

The short answer is that it went well.  Laura and I started talking when I got in her car at the airport...and didn't stop until we tearfully waved goodby at the same airport four days later!  We did errands together, stayed up late together, played on our laptops together, all the while talking...about the past, the present, feelings, family, problems, good times, bad times, the future...and more.  We were like peas in a pod...being with her felt more like being with a daughter than a niece.  The love that was between us thirty-nine years ago has blossomed into a very special relationship. 

As for the men in her life - Laura's husband Martin is a really nice guy with an easy smile and he went out of his way to give us lots of alone time. The boys, John and Eric, are bright and fun and, although it took them some time to warm up to me, we were getting comfortable by the end of the visit. While I was there Eric turned nine, so I got to meet friends and be part of the celebration.  I am looking forward to getting to know the guys better.

It was hard to say good by...especially to Laura.  I plan on racking up up those frequent flyer miles visiting often!

Reconnecting and Family Bonds...

In July I wrote about a reunion with my half-sister after thirty-nine years apart.  We were together for much of my childhood and I always just thought of her as my big sister - didn't even know she was a half-sister for many years - and when I did find out, it changed nothing.  Well, she has two daughters and the last time I saw them was the same thirty-nine years ago.  There was never an estrangement between me and either my sister or my nieces; the separation was due in part to what was going on in my sister's life at that time and in part to differences and misunderstandings between her and our father.  Sadly, my nieces were the innocent victims...missing a whole section of family for so may years.

I found them all thanks to the wonders of social networking - Facebook to be specific.  After exploring the site and learning my way around, it ocurred to me I might find some people from my past and started searching.  I found my nieces first...and through them, my sister.  As we live in different parts of the country, we've been reconnecting via phone, email and Facebook for the last year and a half.  Now we are doing face to face reunions...one at a time.  The reunion with my sister proved that, though we may have grown into vastly different people, the sibling bond is strong and we picked up right where we left off all those years ago.

Since then, I have had another reunion.  I returned only days ago from visiting the older of my two nieces...and meeting her family for the first time.  She was a nine-year-old little girl when we were last together - now she is a beautiful forty-eight year-old woman with a terrific husband, two wonderful boys and an impressive career.  My next blog will tell the tale of that visit.  I don't know how strong the bond was between a nine-year old child and a twenty-one year old girl, but the women they became are like peas in a pod and their love is strong.