I got to spend time with my friend Andrea, who is going through a rough time in her life, but handling everything with grace. She drove over an hour to see me in the midst of her crazy life and we had a good time letting loose together.
I was also invited by a family I've never met before to have dinner and discuss what I am doing in Honduras. They have served short term missions here, so it was nice to be their connection to Honduras and to eat stuffed shells!
I got to have two days of quality time with my friend Kelly and her family. Her kids absolutely freaked me out. I saw her oldest daughter before she was walking. Now they are in college! One of her daughters looks and acts just like Kelly. It's like being with Kelly when Kelly was that age. Only her daughter is less shy than Kelly. The other daughter is more serious and focused. She is going on to law school! Kelly's son is hilarious. He kept coming up with these funny one liners and we would all look at eachother and laugh. At one point he said, "I hope I have old friends who visit me when I'm old. I think I'll need a laugh by that point." I guess he thinks his mother and I are old. And we laugh a lot. He was super well mannered and sweet. Being around them made me wish I could see them more often.
Kelly and I went on some adventures. Her eldest plays in the local professional band, so we went to see them play at the local nursing home where Kelly's Mom has to live now. Kelly's Mom has lost a lot of her memory and her father is 89 years old. He still runs his own store and climbs trees to sit in tree stands for deer hunting. He's in great shape. But they realized the best thing for her mom is professional care. I felt sad for Kelly's Dad. He is doing everything within his power to make the most of his life but I can't imagine how he feels being alone in the home where he raised his family.
It was good to see Kelly's father. I also got to see my high school swim coach. She was also my boss when I lifeguarded in the summers during high school. She is the person who taught me how to swim the butterfly. I was so happy to be able to tell her that I taught three people in Honduras how to fly and a hundred more how to swim.
Kelly and I also went to get my favorite ice cream in the world. Honduras has horrible cake and horrible ice cream. Desserts are not a big thing here. Probably because they are not very good. I had a chocolate/vanilla twist at Mercers which I am still dreaming about.
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| I'm holding Kelly's cone while she takes the picture. |
Afterward we went to the pools, which is a spot on the river where nice swimming holes formed in the rocks. It was my favorite hang out in high school. Kelly said she hasn't been there since we were young, even though it's close to her house. I think it was as good for her as it was for me, to get out and see some of the fun things there are to do in our little village.
We stayed up late talking, just like teenagers, only this time her kids joined us. Kelly has a wonderful life with her kids and a successful dancing school, but I think she enjoyed a little change of pace while I was in town.
I also got to spend time with my friend Tim. He was the one who took the time and spent a bunch of money to fix up a car for me to drive while I was in New York. He seemed to enjoy fixing up the car, but I know he had other things that he could have used that money for. The good news is, he just got called to go back to work after being laid off for a long time. So he was free to hang out with me while I was in town and now he'll be busy working again. He and I had a great time together. We went to the reunion stuff, to the firemen's field days, and he ate dinner with me whenever I was free. He and his father also drove all of the way to the airport to pick up the car when I was done, so that I wouldn't have to go 3 hours out of my way on the day I flew out. I am very appreciative of all Tim did for me to make my trip a good one. He is a good friend.
After seeing everything and everyone I could, I headed off to Syracuse. The only person I missed was one lady, Linda. But I couldn't get in contact with her. In Syracuse I met up with my old boss from college and we went to surprise one of our friends who is a musician. Turned out the owner of the venue where our friend was playing is also an old friend, so it was like a big reunion.
Jack had also received my violin in the mail. He took it to a friend of his and asked them to see if it needed any work. They said it was in great shape. They just polished it up and sent it along to me. He also got me a music stand which fit in my luggage perfectly. I was super grateful that he took the time to do that and put the violin into my hands.
From there I went to Ithaca, where my college roommate's father was being honored at Cornell University. They planted a lot of rare trees in his memory and dedicated them in his name. My college roommate lives in London. We haven't seen eachother since the day she was married 20 years ago. It was nice to spend a little time getting to know her husband and meet her children for the first time. I was honored to be invited to the dedication.
Jack and I planned to spend more time together Saturday evening, but he was sick, so I ended up hanging out with my friend Jamie, the musician. I was eager to hear him play his original music, as he had been doing a Bruce Springsteen tribute the night before. Unfortunately, a huge storm rolled in and he was playing outside, so I got to hear two songs before we packed up all of his equipment and left. We did go out for a very nice dinner and he introduced me to a good friend of his who is now a generous supporter. I miss nice dinners like that when I'm in Honduras. It was delicious.
The next morning I drove to Saratoga Springs where I spent the last 48 hours with my high school friend Ingrid. We talked about high school and were surprised at how much we had going on in our lives that, although we were good friends, we never shared with anyone. I thought that was kind of sad. We could have trusted one another, but for some reason we each kept our personal struggles to ourselves.
First I caught her up on the past 28 years of my life. Then she caught me up on the past 28 years of hers. We had two really nice dinners at her house. I've never enjoyed beef stroganoff as much as I enjoyed hers. We had plans to sit out on her deck, but we never got around to it. I guess that gives me a good excuse to go back!
It was so nice to see everyone and to realize that the people who were special in my life are still special. Time has passed, but we still connected like when we were kids. I did a lot of messed up things as a teen, but I did one thing well. I chose good friends. I loved being with every one of them.
The fundraising did not go as I hoped. But investing my time in reestablishing relationships was extremely healing for me. I think it also made people more genuinely interested in what I am doing and why I am in Honduras. A lot of people I saw in NY are following me more closely on Facebook. They also responded well to my newsletter. If they donate now it will come from the heart because they sincerely care about my mission and the people I am serving. I think that was God's plan all along.
I never thought I'd say this, but I hope to get back to New York soon. Besides horrible airline experiences, it was one of my best times in the US to date.
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