Capturing Memories

Capturing memories - that's some of what I do here on this blog. This year, we didn't have an official family reunion but my long winding vacation served as one. 

On July 16 I left Los Angeles, and headed to NY. My husband was leaving Jamaica and meeting me in NY. Funnily enough we both missed our connecting flights to NY and got in later than we anticipated. I spent the first four days of my vacation on Long Island where I had lived before relocating. I was able to spend a good bit of time reconnecting and reminiscing with girlfriends.

Our old house

Partying with a good friend

The following week we spent in Brooklyn. Brooklyn has changed and is now the place to be. Can you say gentrification? I took the subway, walked, even jogged in Prospect Park a couple of times. We took in Motown on Broadway and it was worth every penny we spent. When I heard my husband whooping after the first song, I knew we had made the right choice. It's a good show from beginning to end. We walked around Times Square before taking the subway back to Brooklyn. In addition we really got to reconnect with family and friends. I got to see how my parents were doing, and catch up on all the family happenings. On the weekend of 7/26 in particular, it seems like everyone was there, though it was not planned.

Grand Army Plaza

Playbill from Motown

Sightseeing with my sister on the Circle Line

The following week we drove to Toronto for a cousin's wedding taking place on August 1st. This was yet another good time with family. The dress code was black tie and the women were asked to indulge the bride by wearing fascinators. Boy, did the women oblige - it was nice to see everyone elegantly attired. On Saturday, we went to Caribana. I've heard of this festival for years and wanted to see how Toronto puts on a party - they did a good job though I might be getting a bit old for it. On Sunday, my Bajan cousins had a picnic and we spent part of the day with them. Then in the afternoon we spent the remainder of the day with my husband's Jamaican family and friends. 

On this trip I used AirBnB for the first time and my experience was overwhelmingly positive. Our host Liz shared her home with us and made us feel like family. Not every BnB experience is this way, but Liz is used to opening her home and letting others in. In addition she lives in a beautiful neighborhood, so on Monday we jogged together and explored. Before leaving Toronto, we drove to Niagara Falls. We didn't do a tour but we saw the Falls and all of the tourist traps.

Me and the girls from Ghana at Caribana

Once we left Toronto, we stopped in NY for a day and then we were off to Maryland to spend a couple of days with my brother. While I love the inside of his house, my favorite part is the outside which I have dubbed "The Meadow", it's that big. I generally don't like dogs, but he has a dog named Lyric which liked me and I, her. I even let her jump on me. In the evenings I played with my niece and nephew. While here, I caught up with my best friend from college - good times.

my new best friend

bff from college

One last hurrah on the last leg of the vacation.

We left Maryland early Saturday morning and came back to Brooklyn. We took my parents out to a lovely Indian restaurant called Baluchis (it sounds Italian but it's Indian). I'm not a fan of Indian food, but after eating here I am. The portions were the right sized and everything was seasoned perfectly. I think this meal made my parents very happy because we started to talk about things that we had never talked about before - particularly their histories.

Now we had to return the rental - so we drove in to Manhattan for the return and met one of our favorite couples from the Bronx. We caught up while driving, stopped by their house, then went to the Cheesecake Factory in the new Ridge Hill Shopping center. It didn't matter what was ordered as the conversation was great. Finally we made it back to Brooklyn.

Our flight was at 6:00 am August 10th, so we didn't get much sleep. My parents wanted to continue talking and then we prayed.

We made it to the airport in time and arrived safely. I fell asleep around 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon and and finally woke up at 6:00 the next morning.

I had initial misgivings about the length of this vacation, but I'm glad we did it.

HS Reunion

It took me a while to get settled after I returned from my 30th (say what!) HS Reunion. It was so much fun!

Let me step back. I graduated from Brooklyn Technical HS in 1983; after graduation I started college in the fall;  I went to City College of New York (CCNY) and majored in Computer Science. I graduated from college in the fall of '87, started working and got married in March of '89.

After getting married and having children in rapid succession, HS was the furthest thing from my mind. Time marched on and so did I. I became aware that homecoming always took place in April. I missed the 20th reunion because I had just had baby #4 and was in no mood to re-connect with anyone. Then I moved to the West Coast, life happened, a brother died and I started to think about the frailty of life.  My brain started to wonder about some of my classmates particularly the track team, since they became my salvation (in a manner of speaking) at Tech.  Because of the team I had a social outlet, and really got to know my teammates. Tech is a very large school that focused on math and science; anyone who attends takes a test for admittance. Somehow I passed the test and was able to attend this school. Our graduating class was around 1400 students. Considering that I was very quiet in HS there is no way I could have even known half of my graduating class. As an aside, before I left for NY, I found out that there's a Technite at my church from the class of 78 - we are everywhere!

After committing to attend the reunion, as the days got closer I became apprehensive. I'm not the same person I was in high school. Back then I was reserved and quiet with a strong moral center. I had strict Christian parents and I absorbed most of their lessons. I wasn't a troublemaker but I looked for ways to have some fun. Today, I'm not so reserved and quiet. I wondered, would I recognize anyone? Would anyone recognize me? Would it feel like HS all over again?

Well, it's been 30 years and I'm sure the memories were a blur for quite a few of us. But we pushed through, reconnected and had a ball!

cheesing in my dress

old friends - if you zoom in to the nametag you can see what i looked like in HS

we went to middle school together

Track team

Track team

If the feelings that I experienced this weekend, are a fraction of what I will experience when I get to heaven - I can't wait until I get there.

Have you ever attended your HS Reunion? Was it a good time or did you just survive it? What would you say to your HS self?

Rest & Reunion

Come aside and rest awhile - and that's exactly what I've been doing these past two weeks. I knew I needed a break when I felt as if I couldn't think anymore and I was on auto pilot. I knew I needed a break, because I was just plain old TIRED.

I have a large family by today's standards - four children. The three older ones were in various locations until our 2nd weekend in NY. For the first week, we took a mini vacation in the Poconos - it was restful and relaxing and our cabin did have that hot tub in it that you saw in the commercials, but it wasn't heart shaped. The scenery in the mountains is beautiful and the humidity was non-existent. The older I get the more I appreciate nature; I've noticed this trait in my husband also, and I love it.

The purpose of this vacation was to rest and also have our first family reunion on my side. One of the drivers for this event was the death of my brother last year; he was the first to die in the family. When we came together for the funeral - though it was sad, a common theme was that we needed to be intentional about getting together before tragedy strikes. And so after much hard work the Family Reunion took place the 2nd weekend in July and it was a blast! We met family members from overseas, reconnected with those we had not seen in years, talked, laughed, ate, and cried. There's a beloved uncle (my father's brother) who now has Alzheimer’s and it was heart wrenching to see him - he didn’t recognize anyone and this disease turns you in to a child. Unfortunately his wife passed away during this time so we went to her funeral Friday night.

I love to see the younger generations connecting and genuinely getting along with each other. I love hearing what each person does.

I was able to rest and reconnect with family. I do think Family is one of God's greatest gifts which we often take for granted probably because we get too tired to see the blessings that they are.

I hope you're getting some much needed rest this summer.

Does your family have a reunion? If not, why not? If yes I'd love to hear more. Any additional plans for the summer?