Becoming a Berges

For the past several months, our almost daughter-in-love has posted pictures of herself after going for a run, pictures of creating some of the decorations for the wedding, and pictures of her and Alex. As she posts them, she always includes the hashtag "becoming a berges". Since it is 4 days until she actually does become a Berges, I thought I'd jot down a few things about what it is to become a Berges.

When you become a Berges, you are joining a small yet mighty group of people who love each other immensely. We may have our differences from time to time, but we will ALWAYS be there for each other, love each other unconditionally, and support each other in times of joy and sorrow. Of course, this is true of many families, but becoming a Berges involves a great deal of love.

I became a Berges a little more than 32 years ago. I really didn't know what that would involve as no one really told me about the Berges family, their idiosyncrasies, history, craziness, and devotion. It would take many years to learn about all of this and to be honest I don't think I know as much about their history as I would like.

So, I have spent the past 33 years (we dated for a year before we married) learning about and trying to understand why my husband Jeff is the way that he is. He does have some of each of his parents in him, he is also a very unique man. He has a quirky sense of humor, knows a great deal of trivia (he really does know a lot but doesn't give himself much credit), and will help anyone at anytime. Once we had our boys, he became the most devoted dad I have ever seen. From the time they were able to move at all, he would take them outside, go for walks, throw the baseball or football, ride bikes, and do anything for them. He is fiercely protective and he is one of the most sensitive men ever. He cries at commercials and movies yet gets angry at some of the silliest things. 

Each of our boys has so many of his qualities (and even some qualities of their now deceased grandfather (Berk). Where Ben is incredibly outspoken, Alex is much more reserved. Regardless of their individual qualities, they both have many of the wonderful qualities of their dad; devotion, quirky sense of humor, and immense love for those who are important in their lives.

These two boys are the last men in this small group of Berges men. Those of us women who have been blessed to become their wife, their life mate, their forever friend, join a group of women who have come before us who also went through the process of becoming a Berges. I don't know if they had anyone to help them through the process or not. Becoming a Berges means you are joining a small group of women who have willingly changed their last name to Berges for this man that you love more than words can say. 

So, to both of our daughter-in-love, not only have our men been blessed because we are part of their lives, but we are also blessed because they are part of our lives. Danielle and I have already become a Berges: Madeleine, you will join us on Saturday. Welcome to our small group and I'm glad you said "Yes" and decided to become a Berges.

Dream Vacation - Chapter 2 - We Finally Arrived

Well, we finally made it on the plane after a missed flight, being put on stand-by and then not allowed to board, and a cancelled flight. I wasn't going to really believe it until we backed away from the gate, taxied to the runway, and actually took off. It took us a great while to get everyone boarded so I was still skeptical. I couldn't see out the window as my row neighbor had the window seat and had the shade completely closed plus she was asleep. How dare she! Didn't she know how important it was for me to be able to see that we were REALLY going to be taking off!!?? Turns out I didn't need to open the shade as I could hear the engines and feel the plane moving. Yes!! We were finally on our way!!

It seemed like we had just taken off when the flight attendants were suddenly offering us dinner. It's really kind of amazing how quickly they can get meals to the hundreds of people who are on a HUGE plane but they do. So as we eat we also browse through the multitude of movies, TV shows, and music that are available for us to enjoy during the flight (it is 5-1/2 hours long).

Dinner is over and it's getting late. Our seats are in the 2nd row in business class right by the bathroom for this area of the plane so it becomes very busy. Also, because we are in the 2nd row of business class, we can see into First Class. They each have individual pods similar to what you might see on the movie "Inception". Later in the night I would come to wish we were in First Class. 

So, as I said, dinner is over, people are all taking their bathroom breaks, and everyone is watching movies until ready to try to sleep. Have you ever tried to sleep on a very large, very loud plane with hundreds of people on it? Even though the flight attendants turn down the lights in the cabin, many people are still watching their individual monitors as well as the large monitors in the front of the cabin that monitor the flight path. Thankfully, I brought along ear plugs as well as a sleeping mask to blackout the light. I also brought along a pair of socks to wear during the flight to keep my feet warm. It's always cold on airplanes! 

I was amazed that I actually slept, even if it was for a short time. As soon as we woke up it was time for breakfast (didn't we just eat dinner?). We all quickly ate, people quickly used the restroom (there was a mass of people in our area), and then it was time to prepare for landing. Really?! Are we finally going to be landing in London? It is now Monday morning about 6:30 am London time - 8 hours ahead of home. We've missed a lot of sleep over the past 3 days and we missed some important tours. As I said, it is now Monday...we were supposed to have arrived here on Saturday morning. If we had arrived on Saturday as we had been planned, we would have traveled to Cottswald on Sunday and toured a quintessential English village. Monday's trip was the hardest one to miss. Again, if we had arrived on Saturday, we would now have been getting up and getting ready for our trip to Paris. We were going to take a train to Paris via the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English Channel). Not only would we have seen the Louvre, but also the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dam. Alas, we didn't. Maybe another trip.

We gather out things and file out of the plane (directly through First Class and see the small, yet much more comfortable than our regular seats, sleeping quarters they had with sheets and blankets. Then it was on to immigration, find out luggage, convert some of our money, and then on to find the express train from Heathrow to Paddington Station (yes, we went to Paddington Station!). 

Once we got to the station it was just about 2-3 blocks we had to walk to get to the apartment where we would stay for 3 nights. We were tired. We were hungry (even though we had breakfast on the plane). We get to the apartment, in the front door, and begin climbing the stairs to our apartment. Little did we know that it was on the top floor, probably had been the attic area when these row houses were single family homes. Now they are split into multiple apartments. Anyway, we begin climbing and climbing and climbing. Finally, 96 steps later we reached it dragging our suitcase, weighted down by our 2 carry-ons, exhausted. 

Inside we inspect the apartment, checkout the beds, determine who will sleep where, unpack some of our things, and decide we need to go get something to eat. So, we head back down the 96 steps to find food and get a few groceries as we planned to eat breakfast at the apartment each day. We walk back to Paddington Station, find a restaurant, sit down, and wait, and wait, and wait. No one comes to wait on us so Connie walked into the bar area and we find that it's kind of a self order and self serve place. Needless to say, we were too tired to do that. We decided to find a grocery store to pick up a few things for breakfast. Thankfully there was one within Paddington Station. Then we walked out onto the street to find a place to get a quick bite. You won't believe this, but our first meal in London was from McDonalds. Yes, McDonalds. We got it to go and went back to the apartment, once again walking up the 96 steps. We ate and then all took a well deserved nap.

Once we awoke from our nap, we sat around the apartment until around dinner time and then wandered down the steps once again to find someplace to eat dinner. We opted for an "American" style restaurant called Garfunkels for this first night. We decided we would become more Londonized tomorrow. Finishing our first dinner in London, we wearily walked back to the apartment (96 steps), spent a little bit of time unwinding, and then went to bed early. Even though we had all had a nice nap, we were still dragging.

Alarms were set (we had our first tour the next day to see the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and St. Paul's Cathedral). As we settled in for the night we could finally rest easy and well as we had finally arrived...

Berges Family 2014 in Review

The year 2014...almost in the history books for everyone including the Berges Family. 

As the year began, most everything was the same as it had been at the end of 2013. With that in mind, we began to think ahead to summer and a family vacation. Discussions went back and forth about where to go. I wanted to go to New York City while the boys wanted to go to the beach in Florida. In the end, the beach won out over NYC. Searching began for a rental property that would fit 6 in Panama City Beach, Florida. Should we choose a house or a condo? Since we didn't know much about this area as our experience in Florida has only been in Pensacola Beach, we weren't really sure which property to choose. I was very close to choosing a house closer to the main part of town when a penthouse condo caught my eye on VRBO. It fit 6, was directly on the beach, had a pool, and had a price we couldn't pass up. So, we booked it.

Shortly after the booking of the condo in Florida, changes began in our family. First, Ben decided to look for another position in law enforcement outside of Franklin County as the pay in the county, at least as a deputy sheriff, is not enough for any family to live on. So, his search began...

Alex has been working at Warren County Sheriff's Department in the jail for nearly 3 years. A year ago he was officially made a commissioned officer in that county but was still working in the jail. In late February he was given a position as a road deputy making this the first change in the family for the year. At this point, we had a deputy in both Warren County and Franklin County.

Ben's applications included Maryland Heights which ultimately offered him a position. Much better pay and benefits. This was the second change for the family. I was very proud and honored that I was able to attend the ceremony on May 20th in which he was sworn in to his new position. As a matter of fact, Danielle, Alex, and I were able to go to this ceremony and both of the boys were in uniform. Very proud moment.

Despite the changes with Ben's and Alex's positions, we hoped that they would still be able to go on vacation with us in June. Since Alex had been with the department for nearly 3 years he should still have vacation time and Ben was hopeful that by that time he would be able to comp some time. However, neither would be able to go on vacation.

As a teacher, I enjoy a snow day or 2. This year, unfortunately, the snow days just continued to occur. Actually, we had 14 of them. That is the most I have ever experienced in my 14 years in education. Our normal time to get out is about mid May. This year we had to go until June 5. Yes, that's right, June 5! I vow to only do the snow dance once or twice this year.

So, it is now June. School is finally out. Danielle has completed her first year as a teacher. Both of the boys have new positions and can't go with us on vacation. Jeff was able to get vacation at the right time. Madeleine (Alex's girlfriend since November - I'll share more about her later) is teaching summer school and won't be able to go with us either. The condo that we rented to accommodate 6 will now only have 3 guests; Jeff, Danielle, and me.

Madeleine...Alex's girlfriend since November 2013. They met through mutual friends. However, I knew her before Alex did because she was one of my college students at Central Methodist. She has quickly become a part of our family and I think she feels right at home with all of us. She was hoping for a teaching position as an elementary teacher (this would be her first year) but instead received an offer to teach special education at New Haven High School. While it isn't the position she would like, she is making the best of it (for now). More about Madeleine later...

With Ben's job change, he also was required to move closer to his municipality. Initially they were going to move to the Pacific area as Danielle was teaching in Bourbon. However, she got a new position teaching in St. Clair which then allowed them to move a little further east to Eureka. Danielle and I worked throughout much of the summer to prepare their house for sale; painting, fixing the laminate floor, laying new kitchen/dining floor, repairing and staining the deck, replacing the shutters, and other miscellaneous items. They listed the house in August during a time that is usually difficult to sell homes and waited.

August was also a time of stress and anxiety. When the shooting occurred in Ferguson and the protests, riots, and looting first began, Ben was on duty in his municipality with the possibility of being called into Ferguson. I went to bed that night not knowing all that was occurring. I was awakened by a text from Danielle telling me that Ben was not home yet and that he didn't know when he would be home. I went over to their house and stayed with her that night. We sat up watching the coverage until about 2 or 3 am. We both tried to go to sleep as we each had trainings to get ready for the first day of the school the following morning. I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I was when I heard him come into the house at about 5:20 am. I hugged him and then went home to get ready for my day. The prayers that were lifted that night on his behalf (and all of the other law enforcement officers) were greatly appreciated.

As summer came to a close and fall arrived, we shared in the 30th, yes the 30th birthday of our oldest son! I have no idea where all of the years have gone and how it is even possible that we could have a child who is 30. He has grown into a wonderful man and Jeff and I are incredibly proud of him and his accomplishments.

It seemed like it was just yesterday that Ben and Danielle listed their house. Fortunately for them, it didn't take long for it to sell. Unfortunately, they didn't have a house to move into. So, we moved most of their belongings into a storage unit, moved other items to our basement, and still others to Danielle's parents' house. They also had to stay with Tim and Rhonda until they found a house. I think they were there about a month when they were able to purchase their new home in Eureka. Rhonda and I spent multiple days helping Danielle paint, clean, and organize not only for them to just live in, but because they hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the family this year. She and I had spent some time working on building a table just for them to go into their new hearth room. I don't have a picture of it in the room, but here is the fireplace that was updated including the mantle that was nearly thrown away until Danielle took the belt sander to it.

Right before Thanksgiving was another trying time in the St. Louis area with the release of the grand juries decision. Once again as this time drew near my anxiety level increased not knowing if Ben would be in the middle of it. Thankfully, he did not. He was even able to be off with all of us for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving this year took on new memories for our family. Alex asked Madeleine to be his wife and she said YES! Thus began the setting of dates, changing of dates, setting up a Pinterest board, finding a hall and booking it, booking the church, and on and on and on. The official date is October 3, 2015.

As parents, Jeff and I are very proud of our boys. We have tried to teach them right from wrong, importance of family, and most importantly to love, trust, and rely on God for everything. We believe that God has blessed them (and us) with the women they both found to be their wives. We couldn't have picked better ones for them and absolutely LOVE our "girls"!

2014 is quickly coming to a close. Christmas lights have been hung, tree has been decorated, presents wrapped and quickly unwrapped, and too much food was eaten. However, we were together as a family. It might have only been for a few short hours, but we have learned to make the best of those fleeting moments when we can. We had a lot of changes this year with more expected next year. God has blessed us through all of the changes and he will continue to do so because he is faithful. Change is often difficult, but with His guidance we can get through anything.

As we close out 2014 and all of the changes that have happened in our lives and we look towards all that will be happening in 2015, we can't help but be reminded of the one and only constant in our lives and that is that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is ALWAYS with us. He has never changed and he never will. He came to this earth as a baby so that he could experience all the things of life that we do. He understands, He loves, He cares, He is life. If you don't know him, I pray that you will.

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angle, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2: 10-14

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Berges Family!

Jeff, Rekke, Ben, Danielle, Alex, and Madeleine

(Yes, that is the real Ben Berges.)

Conversations

Each day we can individually be involved in many conversations, some conversations, or no conversations at all. We overhear interesting conversations while at the grocery story, waiting at the doctor's office, or while waiting to get our car worked on. Some of these conversations we would like to jump right in and talk with them or correct them on something they said that was incorrect. However, there are often those overheard conversations we wish we had never heard.

What types of conversations do you suppose you would hear while riding home from a technology conference/convention with 6 other women in the same vehicle? Probably ones about the presentations they experienced. Maybe something about a give-away they signed up for in the vendor area. Another one could be about what sessions they were going to be attending tomorrow. Well, that's how the conversations began this afternoon but those topics ended about 5 minutes into the ride home.

I'm sure I'm going to miss some of the things that were said or discussed today, but here is a list of what I can remember:

• u-turns
• hitting turkeys
• turkeys flying into the back seat of a convertible with the top down
• hitting deer
• a man in an S-10 who wanted the deer that was hit
• the deer that had been hit coming back to life, aka Tommy Boy
• college students becoming teachers who probably shouldn't be teachers
• General Motors (aka Joe Blow)
• places to go (or not go) for birthday dinners - be careful which hamburger joint you go to
• 21st birthdays and what NOT to do
• pink cowboy hat in Chicago
• throwing up while riding in a car with head hanging out the window
• salad
• feather boa and goat cheese
• throwing up in the car because it wouldn't let you out
• proving to husband that you were right about the car not letting you out
• interesting attire by various residents of Chicago

Finally, the weirdest conversation had to do with another convention but certainly not one that any of us would/could/will ever attend. We will leave it at that.

I wonder what our conversations will be about while driving home tomorrow? We have one more day at this conference. Do you think we'll talk about the presentations, what we learned, or what we won? We can only hope it won't be about bear conventions.

Pre-Christmas 2013

It is now December 22 and I'm not sure what it is, but I don't seem to be in any kind of holiday spirit so far this year. I didn't put up any decorations on the outside of the house. I just put up our Christmas tree last week on 12/15/13. I haven't created, addressed, or sent any Christmas cards this year to family or friends. I don't have my shopping completed. As a matter of fact, I have only purchased a few presents and only because I bought them online and had them delivered to the house.

So, what is the problem? As I stated above, I really don't know. I could blame it on quite a few things if I wanted to place the blame somewhere.

I could go back to pre-Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving and blame the things that occurred then (which actually could be part of the problem) but that's not the problem.

I could blame the fact that I am really not liking my job right now. That may not be completely accurate, let's say that I'm not liking some of the decisions that are being made. I still love when I get to teach.

How about the fact that Christmas has just snuck up on me, could I blame that? Well, I could but I don't think that is it either.

My husband works nights and we don't have time to shop together. Nope, not that either. He doesn't always shop with me anyway and we have been together on the weekends so it isn't that.

How about the schedule of my two boys? With both of them being in law enforcement their schedules can often cause us to have to be creative when we celebrate anything from birthdays, to anniversaries, to Thanksgiving, to Christmas. Even though the schedule isn't ideal, we will still be able to get together as a family on Christmas Eve. So, that isn't it either.

It wasn't until just this afternoon that I finally realized WHY I haven't been in the Christmas spirit. It isn't because of either of the issues from Thanksgiving, my job, time, schedule, or any other nonsensical  thing I could find to blame. The problem all along has been ME! I have been focusing on the things in life that are important to ME; family, time, job, schedules, etc. The real reason I should be in the Christmas spirit has nothing whatsoever to do with ME but should be only about HIM. I took my eyes off of Jesus, the baby in the manger, and looked everywhere else but there.

So, where do I go from here? Back to where I need to be; focused on Jesus, following Him in all I do.

To all of my family and friends who have endured my un-Christian attitude and behaviors, please forgive me as that is not the attitude and behaviors I strive to live and project. I hope and pray that all of you who really know me will pray for me and help to hold me accountable for my actions. As a sinner I know I will struggle and fall at times. God didn't promise that life would be easy but He did promise to always be with us. His promises are true and good. HE is true and good.

Merry Christmas!

The Dream Vacation - Chapter 1 - Will We Ever Get There?

The trip had been almost a year in the making. Three friends were going to travel to Scotland, the land of our ancestors, to see it's beauty and possibly search for family history. Shortly after the planning began, a fourth friend was added. So here we were, Connie Hughes, Sally Schatz, Judy Eichwald, and me, planning this trip of a lifetime to a location I only dreamed of going to visit. In less than a year, that dream would actually come true!

Here is how it was supposed to go....
We were scheduled to take off from St. Louis on Friday, June 28 and fly to Philadelphia where we were to have a 5 1/2 hour layover.
After the layover, we were to take off from Philadelphia, fly during the night, and arrive in London in the morning on Saturday, June 29.
We would have Saturday to recover and do some exploring in London.
Sunday, we had a tour scheduled to Cottswald.
Monday we were going to take the train in the chunnel (the train tunnel under the English Channel) to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, and the Mona Lisa, among other locations.
The rest of the trip would go on as scheduled with only a few hiccups along with way.

Here is how the trip actually happened....
June 28 was a clear day in the St. Louis area. Just a few clouds in the sky. Jeff and I left the house to go pick up each of my traveling partners; Connie, Judy, and Sally. Then, it was on to the airport.

Once we arrived, we had to go to the ticket desk to check our bags and get our boarding passes. Connie, Judy, and I had all three attempted to print our boarding passes from home the day before with no luck. Was this a bad omen or just a computer glitch? Regardless of how we look at it, it was the beginning of a few days of headaches and aggravations that would try our patience and test our fortitude.

After receiving our boarding passes and checking our bags, we made our way through security and headed towards the gate. Knowing it would be a while before we had to board the plane, we decided to go to Chili's and eat some lunch. We sat and talked for a while and watched some of the planes come and go. We talked about what we were going to do once we got to London, if we were going to feel like going shopping that first day, go exploring the area around the apartment, or what? At this point, we were just so excited about everything.

Once we had finished our lunch, we leisurely made our way to the gate thinking it would only be a short wait until our flight. We probably had about 30 minutes or so until they started calling for us to board the plane. That 30 minutes passed as well as an additional 30-45 minutes as our flight to Philadelphia was late. At this point, we had nothing to fear because the weather was clear and we had such a long layover in Philadelphia before flying to London. So as we boarded the plane, we fully expected to be bored waiting in the airport for our flight "across the pond". Little did we know that our adventure was going to make such a drastic turn in just a few short hours that would cause many travelers to just turn around and go home.

We weren't paying any attention to the amount of time it was taking to get to Philadelphia until the captain made an announcement on the intercom that we had been circling the airport for a while because of storms and were being diverted to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC. Then, as we were flying to Dulles, the captain again made an announcement that we were instead being diverted to Richmond because we were getting low on fuel and there was quite a bit of traffic at Dulles. No big deal. Land at Richmond, refuel, take off, and still arrive in Philadelphia in plenty of time to connect our flight to London.

During the flight to Richmond, the lone flight attendant was making her way with drinks through the cabin. Normally the only complimentary drinks are coffee, water, and soft drinks. However, this flight attendant told all of the passengers that the first "drink" was on her. Many of the passengers gladly accepted the free adult beverage she gave them.

As we are landing at Richmond, I was watching out the window. I became a bit concerned when I saw 3 of the airport emergency vehicles on the side of the runway with their lights flashing and as we landed they followed us into the gate. Does that mean we were THAT low on fuel? I don't know but that was a bit nerve-wracking!

We pulled up to the gate and sat there on the plane while it was determined how long we would actually be there. Within minutes, we were being off-loaded into the terminal at Richmond but told to stay close as we could be boarding at any time. So, we went to get something to eat from the only restaurant in this area of the airport. Needless to say, it was less than stellar. I'm pretty sure they weren't prepared for an entire plane full of starving people to be dropped off at the last minute.

We quickly ate our sandwiches thinking we were going to get back on the plane very soon. However, we waited and waited and waited. We all kept watching the time because many of us had connecting flights once we arrived at Philadelphia and our long layover was very quickly shrinking. After about an hour to an hour and a half we finally boarded the plane ready to head on to Philadelphia. However, once again we sat on the plane waiting for the air traffic control to give us permission to leave. When we finally did leave, we knew we would be cutting it very close once we go to Philadelphia. Our only hope was that the plane that would be taking us to London would be late arriving from its destination.

I should interject that all during this time we were on the ground, I was updating our status on Facebook and talking and texting with Jeff, my kids, and my sister-in-law Judi who lives outside of Philadelphia. The texting with Judi will play a key role to more that occurs later. Now, back to the story...

As we are flying to Philadelphia, the flight attendant once again brings the beverage cart around and tells everyone that the adult beverages are on her. This time, instead of giving out a glass of wine, she gave many of them the entire bottle! The bottles aren't full size, however, they were large enough. I think the only ones who didn't get the free adult beverages were Judy and Connie and if anyone deserved the drinks, they did. Their seats were directly next to the toilet.!

We get closer and closer to our destination and can see the storms off in the distance. We also keep an eye on the time knowing it is going to be VERY close. We are hoping and praying that our outbound flight is delayed.

We land at Philadelphia, go as fast as we can to the shuttle service that will take us to a totally different terminal to catch our plane, and keep praying that it is still there even though we have arrived after our official take-off time. Once off the shuttle, we RUN to the gate only to find it....empty. It's gone. Our plane left without us.

There must have been many other people who had been left behind by various airlines because there was an incredibly long line waiting to book a different flight to their destination. Connie made her way to an agent who attempted to assist us however, she couldn't get us a flight out of Phillie until Tuesday evening and arriving in London on Wednesday (this is Friday night). That would definitely NOT work for us. We needed to get there NOW! We already had tours scheduled for Sunday and Monday and we certainly didn't want to miss anything. We thought that since we still had Saturday to work with we would be okay. So, we walk back to the shuttle area to go back to the other terminal to get our luggage except that the shuttle was no longer working as it had stopped for the night. We enquired as to how we were supposed to get back to the other terminal and found out that we had to take the employee shuttle. Ok....no big deal. We'll go back, get our luggage, go to a ticket agent there, rebook our flight, and all will be good. Right.....

When we arrived at the luggage carousel, no luggage. It had all been stored away for the night because we had taken so long in the other terminal. We had no way of getting it until the next day. So, we decided to walk over to the terminal where the ticket agents are and no one is on duty until 4am. It is now about 11 or 11:30 pm. We decide that the only thing we can do is get a hotel room, go to their business center to find a flight, and try to get some rest. 

Remember I had been texting my sister-in-law, Judi? Well, as I'm texting her now, the responder becomes my brother-in-law, Darryl. I informed him that we missed our flight, can't get our luggage until the next day, and need a hotel room. He give some suggestions that we try but they are all booked up. We finally find a Holiday Inn Express that is nearby and has a room available (thank you Judy Eichwald for having those priority points!!). We take a cab to the hotel, check in, and send Judy and Sally up to the room while Connie and I go to the business center to begin our search for a new flight. Sally joined us shortly and we all began searching for a flight to London. At this point we didn't care what airline or where we had a layover. We just wanted to get there. During our flight search we found one that would take us through Reykjavik, Iceland. That would have been awesome to have had that stamp in our passport! However, that flight was full.

Finally, around 3am, we found one that would get us from JFK to Paris and then we booked a short flight from Paris to London. This would get us to London on Sunday which would mean we would miss the trip to Cottswald but we would still make the trip to Paris on Monday. The next issue we had to face was how to get to JFK. We planned to rent a car the next day once we got our luggage. So, we headed to our room to get a few hours of sleep. Since I hadn't planned to miss my flight, I didn't pack any pajamas or a change of clothes in my carry-on. I did, however, pack my toothbrush, toothpaste, contact solution, contact case, glasses, deodorant (I was the only one of us to pack deodorant in my carry-on), and a clean pair of underwear. Needless to say, I slept in my clothes. Judy and Connie each brought pajamas in their carryon and a change of clothes but Sally and I didn't. Oh well.

After sleeping a few hours my phone rang about 7:30am. It was Judi asking what the plan was for the trip. Darryl had already filled her in on the details from the night before and I told her about our flight out of JFK and that we had planned to get our luggage and rent a car. She told me that she would drive us to New York and that she would bring food for us, since it was many hours since we had eaten. So we slept a couple more hours, showered, caught the shuttle to the airport, and collected our luggage. This last part took about an hour to an hour and a half because the man working in the luggage area had to go to the fifth terminal (we were in the 1st terminal) to get our luggage. He didn't have to do this but was incredibly nice and must have felt sorry for us.

Once we got our luggage we made our way past a few terminals, into another, across the busy road on the walkway, down another elevator to the parking lot where she was parked. It was only Saturday, 1 day into our adventure, but she was a sight for sore eyes!! We loaded all of our stuff into her Jeep and took off for New York. On the way to pick us up she stopped at Wawa (a place I had never heard of before and found out that it is just like a quick stop) and bought some turkey sandwiches for us. They were just simple sandwiches but we were starving so they were delicious.

Most of the way to New York there really wasn't much traffic until we got very close and then the traffic was bumper to bumper. Our trip to JFK included traveling through Staten Island, one part of New York that we missed going to while we vacationed there a year ago. This wasn't really the time for us to travel through Staten Island, but better late than never. Once we finally arrived at the airport, Judi wouldn't take any money for gas so she was made an honorary sister chick and promised a gray t-shirt from Scotland. Don't worry Judi, we got one! We all hugged her good-by, thanked her profusely for the ride and the sandwiches, and made our way into the terminal. We had several hours to wait until we could check in as the flight wasn't until 10:50pm and it was only about 2:30 or 3pm. We went to the lower level of the terminal to find some place to sit and wait, maybe find something to eat, and just relax for a few hours. This terminal was the busiest terminal I have ever seen! I think it was the main terminal for international travel because there were planes arriving from places all over the world constantly with a steady flow of foreign visitors with the largest suitcases I have ever seen! I always worry about my suitcase being over the weight limit but none of mine could EVER equal some of the ones we saw that day in JFK. And, they had multiple suitcases of this size. What were they taking with them and why? Did they bring their entire wardrobe with them? Also, we saw many that were shrink-wrapped. Why did they need to be shrink-wrapped? (There will be another story of a family and luggage at the end of the trip)

After many hours of waiting, people watching, and reading, we made our way to the check-in area feeling excited that we were finally on our way. We snaked our way slowly through the line and finally made it to the check-in counter. We handed our passports over to the ticket agent and waited for our boarding passes and for him to take our luggage. However, he passed our passports to the ticket agent beside him and asked us to move over to the next counter. This was not looking good. He looked at the passports and his computer and then told us that we were actually on stand-by. That meant that we might get on the plane and we might not. It just depends on how many people actually check-in. So, we had to move off to the side and wait for everyone to check-in which took a couple of hours. In the meantime, Judi, Sally, and Connie are going around to other airlines looking for flights to get us to London while I stayed with the luggage. This was beginning to get very frustrating. 

We wandered around the terminal for a couple of hours waiting for all to check-in and when it looked like there was no one else in line we finally went back to check-in, load our luggage, get our boarding passes, and head for security. However, after we got to the check-in counter we were told that there were actually seats available but we couldn't use them because there wasn't time to check us in, check our luggage, get it on the plane, get us through security, get us to the gate, and get us on the plane before take-off. We didn't get to board this plane. We were not going to London yet again. What now?!

We decided to go downstairs to the terminal concierge to get a hotel room. We could at least go get a decent nights sleep, since we only had a couple of hours sleep the night before, and something to eat while we looked for another flight. We made our way down to the concierge and asked for assistance to get a hotel room near the airport. We were promptly told that there were no hotels available within 20 miles of JFK. It was at that point that I was ready to sit down on the floor there in the middle of Terminal 7 at JFK and cry. I was tired. I was hungry. I was aggravated. I wanted to get to London! Once more, Judy got on the phone and used her priority points for Holiday Express and found the last room in the Holiday Inn Express just 10 miles from JFK! Take that concierge!!

We got in line for a taxi and I got on the phone with Alex back at home to look for flights out of JFK (or any other airport on the eastern seaboard) for London. He found a couple and sent the link to me so that I could open it once we arrived at the hotel. I was also texting Darryl again about all of the problems we were having this evening too. He graciously offered to give us a tour of Manhattan the next day just in case we couldn't get a flight. As much as I would have loved that, I told him that maybe that could wait for the trip that Jeff and I were going to make in September. 

We made it to the hotel, got settled in, ordered some food, and Connie and I went to the business center to check out those flights Alex found. One would take off from New York and go through Berlin on its way to London. The other would take off from New York and go through Toronto on its way to London. We decided to go with the one through Toronto. It was an afternoon flight from JFK to Toronto so we were able to get a good dinner, good nights sleep, showered and clean clothes the next morning, and we were able to get our boarding passes printed BEFORE going to the airport. We were feeling GOOD!!

We arrive at the airport (to a different terminal thank goodness) and checked our bags with the skycap. We walked in and made it through security in no time because there was literally no one there at that time. We made our way to the gate to patiently wait for what we just knew would be THE flight. We sat at the gate, got snacks, did some reading, and a great deal of people watching. As it was getting closer to our boarding time, there was an announcement in our area stating that our flight was cancelled. Cancelled?! Really!!!??? WE WERE SOOOOO CLOSE!!! (We found out later that the flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems. We also found out later that the next day in Toronto they had horrible storms and part of the airport actually flooded.)

Right after announcing that the flight was cancelled, they requested for us to make our way to the counter to make other arrangements. I'm pretty sure we may have hurdled a few people and knocked some children down on our way to the counter. Once we arrived, there were 2 young men at the counter and we nearly attacked them in an attempt to get another flight to London. They took our passports and the old boarding passes to get both flights cancelled and then to find one that would work. They actually found one that was better than the one with a layover in Toronto. This one would be non-stop to London and was taking off that same night!! All we had to do was go get our luggage off the carousel, recheck it, and go back through security. No problem! 

We went to the luggage area, retrieved our bags and attempted to go check it in at the airline, however, it was incredibly busy. So, we went back outside to the skycap and checked it there. Then we made our way to security which was incredibly busy by this time and then on to the gate. We still had a little bit of time to wait for this flight but not too long. 

As we sat there waiting we saw what appeared to be our flight crew preparing to board the plane. However, they waited and waited and waited before they went onto the plane. Our boarding time came and went and we still weren't on the plane. They announced that the flight was delayed due to heavy traffic in New York because of storms. I don't remember how much time had passed when they finally began boarding our flight. Because it was such a huge plane it took forever to get everyone on and ready to go. 

We were finally boarded and moving away from the gate. Were we really going to be taking off? Were we really going to be making our way to London 3 days late? YES!! We took off for the 5-1/2 hour flight.

What happens on the flight? Is it uneventful? What do the 4 friends do once they arrive in London? Stay tuned for the next chapter in The Dream Vacation.....

Memorial Day

Today as we observe Memorial Day, a day in which we honor and remember everyone who has served and sacrificed, often with their lives, so that we could remain free, I looked at a little bit of the history of the holiday. It was originally called Decoration Day that was supposed to be a day of remembrance to honor those who died in our nation's service. While it is difficult to determine where and when observing Memorial Day REALLY began, President Lyndon Johnson officially declared it a holiday in 1966. It is believed that it began in Waterloo, NY, but that there were probably many other towns who had spontaneously begun to remember and honor the war dead long before that.

New York was the first state to recognize this day in 1873 with all of the rest of the northern states observing it by 1890. The South refused to observe and honor this day choosing to honor their war dead on a different day until after World War I when the date was changed from remembering just the fallen from the Civil War to the fallen of all wars. However, there are still several southern states who choose to remember their Civil War dead on a separate day.

It seems as if it takes a national tragedy to unite the people of this country anymore. For many years prior to the events of 911, there didn't seem to be as much patriotism as there was for several years following those horrible events. People proudly flew the American flag and sang the national anthem as well as God Bless America. While there are many who still do all of these, it seems as if the patriotism of many has waned. Why? Is it because of the state of the economy? Is it because of who we have as president? Is your political party not in control? Is it because we haven't had a huge tragedy since 911? 

Our patriotism shouldn't be based on who is currently serving as our president, on the state of the economy, or on which politcal party is in control. It also shouldn't only be based on us coming together as a nation simply due to tragedy. We are AMERICANS! Our fore-fathers fought and died to make this country free. Because of what they did and the fact that we live in the greatest country in the world, we should all proudly and respectfully fly our flag. We should feel it an honor to be able to sing the greatest national anthem in the world. Mostly, we should take the time to respect and honor ALL of the men and women who have fought and died to keep us free all of these years. I don't necessarily agree with our current administration, but I am incredibly proud to be an AMERICAN! We all should be.

So, thank you to all who have fought, suffered, lost loved ones, and who still serve this great country of ours so that we can remain free. May we always know freedom. May our flag always fly. May God bless America.