I write this posting is in memory of one of my most dedicated readers and biggest fans, Grandma Mac. Brian's grandmother Mary McCarthy passed away on Friday.
Grandma Mac and I never got to spend much time together, but she said that reading the blog helped her to get to know me a lot better. She was from a farm in Rochester, MN, worked as one of the first stewardesses on Northwest Airlines, met Brian's grandfather at a bar in Minneapolis, and raised four kids in Des Moines.
Whenever it's my time to go, if getting hit by a bus is not an option, it would be ok to die like she did. Mary had just turned 92, lived independently in a senior apartment and enjoyed pretty good health until about a month ago. She went downhill fast but got to see all of her kids before she died.
Brian and I are supposed to be packed up and ready to get to the airport about now. I am ready to go back, to be in our own apartment and sleep in
our own bed and see some friends and get into the day to day patchwork
of all the little things I do. After about five phone calls yesterday, I was able to rearrange our flights so that we have another week in the U.S.
We will likely exhaust all possibilities of fun things to do at the lake house over the next few days as we hang out before the trip to Des Moines on Thursday. Our new favorite is to canoe out to a sandbar and set up beach chairs in the ankle deep water. We could get our fill of movies in English at the movie theater nearby. We could top up on Americana and go to the Kenosha County fair. We could clean the house. I could swim across the lake and have Brian pick me up in the car (I am not that good of a swimmer to come all the way back). I might actually do some work or try to refresh my German vocabulary. Those flash cards I brought along have been collecting dust for a month.
I can't think of many other places I'd like to be delayed for a week.
It's of course a very sad thing that Grandma Mac passed away, but since it happened now we at least have the chance to be at the funeral and say our goodbyes with the rest of the family. They are certainly her biggest fans.
About Me
- Julia
- Thanks for coming to my blog. It started as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, and now has become an ongoing project. I'm an American living in Germany and trying to travel whenever I can. I write about my experiences as an expatriate (the interesting ones and the embarrassing ones), and about my travels. There are some recurring characters in this blog, particularly my husband Brian and several of our friends. The title comes from the idea that living in a foreign country means making a lot of mistakes. So the things you used to do easily you now have to try over and over again. Hopefully, like me, you can laugh at how idiotic it feels. If you have happened upon my blog, then welcome. Knowing that people are reading what I write makes me keep going. Feel free to write comments or suggestions for future posts.
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