Christmas Travelling Ruminations

I'm travelling to the US to visit family & friends & my man (!) starting next week Tuesday. Thinking about the trip has me thinking a lot about the last time I took this trip two years ago. I've lived in Germany for almost three years, and this will be my third trip back to the States. In 2002 I went home for nearly three weeks at Christmas time, doing the exact opposite of this trips plan. In 2003 I didn't go home at all. This year I went to the States in March for my Grandma T's funeral and now I'm heading "home" for two weeks of Christmas cheer.

As I said, this trip has me thinking a lot about the last trip. Last time I visited friends, heck, she's practically family, in NJ for a few days and then continued on to Florida for the rest of the time. This time it's opposite. I'm travelling first to Florida for a week and then visiting Bill at the "in-laws" and Janine in NJ.

Last time I went to NJ for a very special reason. First, I lived there for five years & wanted to see my friends. Second, my friend Donna was very very sick. I was afraid if I waited until another trip to visit her, or wait for her planned trip to Europe the next year, I wouldn't get to see her again. She had cancer and it was bad. I really really wanted to see her. I stayed with her & Janine for about three days. Even though Donna & I didn't do much together on that trip - she was staying mostly in bed at this point - it was great seeing her at Christmas time and being with her. Janine & Lisa swear she brightened up for those three days and did a lot better while I was there. I glad I brightened up her life. She was like a second mother to me.

Okay, I didn't mean to get all maudlin. I was going to write about Janine, Erik, and my trip into NYC two years ago - that's the big "got lost in Queens" story, Shelby - but I got sidetracked. I miss Donna. Travelling back to the States at Christmas time & all the crocheting I've been doing lately has me thinking about her - she encouraged my crocheting, gave me tips, and in fact, gave me the hooks I'm using now. Sorry, Janine, I know you're missing her too and this post will just make it worse.

I'm off to crochet some more before bed. I need to see if I need to buy more yarn tomorrow for this one project.

God bless you Donna. Love you.

Posted by Jinglelady at December 18, 2004 12:04 AM | Family , Traveling | TrackBack