It’s the end of our trip. We have about 2 more hours in London before I leave on my flight. James leaves 2 hours after I do. We hurry to Paddington station. I had to get the children a Paddington bear from Paddington station. Paddington is something (someone) very near and dear to my heart from my own childhood. I meant to do this last time I was in London. Unfortunately that was our only time to tour London. The airport was uneventful bordering on annoying with the lines. All went well.
I got on the plane excited to see Byron, Luna and Liam and Andie. I can’t wait to see them, hear their voices and hug them. I missed them terribly. At the same time I had a wonderful time with James and feel a special connection to Europe and him. I want to return soon. I want to return to Ireland with the children again. I often say that if McCain wins the presidency we should move to Ireland or Vancouver. As the US gets worse, I take those sentiments more seriously.
On the plane I think of where our next trip will be. I feel a pull to return to Europe but as I am reading Barack Obama’s autobiography, Dreams from my Father I feel an even stronger tug to go to the Philippines where my father was born. I have yet to go there to feel my culture. I fantasize about returning. Do I go with the whole family? I would like to travel with my brother. Should I just go with my brother and Byron since Byron is the oldest? Or all the children so they can experience that part of their heritage? James has a Unitarian tie there too. We’ll see.
I reflect on what I liked and did not like about this trip. I loved the whole trip. It was exactly how I dreamed it to be. James says this too. My favorites were Inis Mor (of course), spending time with Csaba and Eva and surprisingly Edinburgh. I had no idea I would fall in love with that place. Of course the pub experiences and people we met were priceless. I regret not running the 5K, getting pictures and contact info for everyone we met and asking Joel form the hostel at Inis Mor his story. Otherwise, it was wonderful. James and I are great travel buddies/partners/lovers. Cal and his brother thought we just got married. “You are so in love and so young. I’d never imagine you had children! You seem like kids having fun!” We do, don’t we? I’m blessed.
I arrived at the San Francisco airport on time, get my luggage and go through customs easily. I get to the lobby and look for Heidi, Luna and Liam. There they are!!!! We run to each other and I pick up Luna and hug her tightly. She looks so cute and happy. I do the same with Liam. It’s so wonderful to see them again. They are chatty telling me about all of their adventures while we were gone. Heidi takes me to my car and the children and I return to the airport to wait for James who arrived 3 hours after I did. There is a cool map on the floor with selected world cities. We played a game hopping on cities we have visited. I am impressed how much the children know. We hopped on Paris, I asked what country is it. They mutually respond with France! They respond as if that is way too easy. So I try Budapest. Duh! Mom, it’s Hungary. Dublin? Mom, that’s where you were! Oslo? “That’s where we saw the fjords!” We hop around the world. James finally arrives. Luna took on the job of watching the screen to keep Liam and I informed. Here he comes. I missed him terribly! And it was only 12 hours we were apart! The kids run to him and hug him too. We are hungry. The children have been asking for Maggie Mudds the whole time (vegan ice cream sundaes in more flavors than one can imagine!). We get Ethiopain food at Café Axum and then a sundae at Maggies. Driving home was tough as J and I were both exhausted and at this point it was the middle of the night in the UK for us. We arrive home. Ah! Home!!! Byron is home and waiting for us. I open the door half asleep and there he is with a beautiful smile and ready for a hug. Ah! Home!
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