I'm so concerned I am going to leave out someone, or something important! The trip to NY was a great experience outside of the numerous blunders by American Airlines. I want to remember them all.
Kim and I had eaten pizza. We drove past my old house, which I didn't even recognize because all of the trees were cut down. I made her drive by three times. Then we took a little tour of all of our old stomping grounds. I was amazed by how green everything was, although Northern NY is currently in a drought. The last time I was there, everything felt so depressed. Although now I wonder if maybe it was me.
This time the lawns were all well kept. Houses seemed freshly painted. Everyone was driving new cars. It even SMELLED SO GOOD! I couldn't stop smelling the air. A few people thought I was nuts, I'm sure. But they have never smelled the air in Honduras. It can get a little rank here. I don't remember it ever smelling so good in Colorado or Chicago or Salt Lake, but Northern NY smelled delicious.
On my second full day I attended the first part of the reunion and got to see my friend Kelly. I think I might have freaked her out. She looked so beautiful! Who do you know that is even more beautiful in their late 40's than as a teen? Nobody except my friend Kelly. It was absolutely crazy. I kept telling her how incredible she looked over and over.
The next day was the reunion. I got to see former neighbors and friends from high school. I got to talk to people I would have never dared speak to when I was younger and you know what? They are just regular people. I got to reminisce with high school cohorts about our crazy antics.
My friend Andrea drove up and spent the whole day with me. That was pretty special. She has been fighting depression for years now. But she managed to get herself out of the house and enjoy the weekend. I was proud of her and happy to get the opportunity to see her. We stayed out late and enjoyed ourselves just like we did as teens.
I didn't get to do the fundraising I planned. At the time it felt like I was really failing in my whole purpose of being there, but looking back I am glad I got to focus on spending quality time with people rather than asking for money.
Monday, August 22, 2016
NY Trip Part 1
I was supposed to go to a devotional today, but for the first time ever, I missed it. I woke up plenty early, but I had to wait at home for books to be delivered. Remember a few weeks ago I said I wanted to start a library? Well, thanks to a few generous donations and one lady whose ministry is to create libraries, I now have 73 books sitting on my bed. Most are fiction, which was my goal. Some are Christian and some are also educational. It seems like a great balance. At least Laura is having a good time. She may keep Fany busy all night reading, if Fany allows.
So, back to my trip to NY. I am still not ready to talk about my trip with American Airlines. I was lied to and treated horribly by them. The worst part was, so was everyone around me. They were horrible from before I stepped onto the first plane until 24 hours after I got off the last plane, when I they illegally snuck my luggage through customs and did a shady hand-off outside of security. At least I am alive and I have my luggage. For that I can be thankful.
I was picked up from the airport by one of my closest friends as a teenager. We haven't seen eachother since we graduated in 1988, but we keep in touch on Facebook, which is so nice! I spent my first four days in New York with her. We ate NY style pizza, stayed up late talking, and did all of our high school's reunion stuff together. She shuttled me around. I got to meet her boyfriend, who will become her husband next year. He's a super nice guy. I also got to meet her son, who has Asperger's. I instantly loved him. He is a great kid. To me, it was not so obvious that there was anything different about him right away. Most of his eccentricities are positive things in the environment where I got to know him. But he does struggle at school and socially with peers sometimes. I just thought he was great.
My friend and her son were two of the very first people to ever support the idea of me moving to Honduras. When I was here visiting in 2009 they kept up with my blog. He raised money for the kids I was serving and she sent me encouraging messages almost every day. She knew that I was being called to live here before I did. When I finally talked about it publicly, she already knew what was coming.
While I was there, Facebook posted one of those "memory" things that said, "On this day 7 years ago..." On that day 7 years ago I had written, "Should I sell everything I own and move to Honduras?" and she had quickly responded, "Follow your heart!"
I loved sharing that memory while I was staying in her home with her on that day seven years later.
Please excuse any typos. I am going for quantity of quality here. I spent all day typing out my monthly newsletter and a few of the thank you notes I owe to people. It's now 10 hours later and my eyes are not capable of proofreading. Maybe tomorrow...
So, back to my trip to NY. I am still not ready to talk about my trip with American Airlines. I was lied to and treated horribly by them. The worst part was, so was everyone around me. They were horrible from before I stepped onto the first plane until 24 hours after I got off the last plane, when I they illegally snuck my luggage through customs and did a shady hand-off outside of security. At least I am alive and I have my luggage. For that I can be thankful.
I was picked up from the airport by one of my closest friends as a teenager. We haven't seen eachother since we graduated in 1988, but we keep in touch on Facebook, which is so nice! I spent my first four days in New York with her. We ate NY style pizza, stayed up late talking, and did all of our high school's reunion stuff together. She shuttled me around. I got to meet her boyfriend, who will become her husband next year. He's a super nice guy. I also got to meet her son, who has Asperger's. I instantly loved him. He is a great kid. To me, it was not so obvious that there was anything different about him right away. Most of his eccentricities are positive things in the environment where I got to know him. But he does struggle at school and socially with peers sometimes. I just thought he was great.
My friend and her son were two of the very first people to ever support the idea of me moving to Honduras. When I was here visiting in 2009 they kept up with my blog. He raised money for the kids I was serving and she sent me encouraging messages almost every day. She knew that I was being called to live here before I did. When I finally talked about it publicly, she already knew what was coming.
While I was there, Facebook posted one of those "memory" things that said, "On this day 7 years ago..." On that day 7 years ago I had written, "Should I sell everything I own and move to Honduras?" and she had quickly responded, "Follow your heart!"
I loved sharing that memory while I was staying in her home with her on that day seven years later.
Please excuse any typos. I am going for quantity of quality here. I spent all day typing out my monthly newsletter and a few of the thank you notes I owe to people. It's now 10 hours later and my eyes are not capable of proofreading. Maybe tomorrow...
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