Everyone I know has been so supportive and has assured me that I have nothing to worry about regarding Lee’s welfare or the security of all my stuff that I am not taking with me. Going away for two years has some advantages, one of them being lots of partying.
My family had a get together at my brother’s. Attendance was almost perfect. One mother, three brothers, three sisters-in-law, one sister, one brother-in-law, one niece, five nephews, two nephew-wives, two sons, and one-son special girlfriend all showed up. One sister and brother-in-law with whom Lee and I had just spent a few days with and couldn’t break away from their busy restaurant, one niece in Texas, one nephew who is spending a semester in India, and one nephew away at school I Pennsylvania had legitimate excuses for not attending. I am the oldest, with of course the exception of my mother, and in my opinion, the wisest, best looking and least conceited member in the family. So I was positive that the gathering was not to celebrate the fact that I would be out of the USA for two years but that they truly would miss me and wanted me to be safe and healthy. They presented me with an IPOD so that I could blend in with today’s generation of twenty-somethings and have earphones draped around my neck as I accomplished my daily tasks. I was able to install my Macedonian language program on the IPOD so I can now practice my language skills anywhere. I also installed my only two music albums – Perry Como and Slim Whitman – so I’ll have enough music to listen to for the next 27 months. It was a wonderful day.
Lee and my neighbors also threw a going away party for me. Andy and Mary, Dave and Sue, Bob and Kathy, Bill and Marsha, and Brad and Kristin put on a fabulous cookout (notice I put all the husband’s names first , even though , with the exception of Andy, the women did all the planning, setting up, decorating and cleaning up. It’s a cultural thing). The yard was decorated with red and yellow streamers and the tables with red and yellow tablecloths and napkins (red /yellow = colors of the Macedonian flag). Andy had procured a Macedonian flag on eBay, which he hung prominently in the family room and he played the Macedonian National anthem for us , which he had downloaded off iTunes (I just realized as I was typing this that many companies today capitalize the second letter of their companies logo) . It was a great gathering and I really appreciated all the effort that was put into it. My wife did a yeoman job celebrating my departure. Hmm?
The only problem with all these going-away parties is that I am now committed to staying away from Chelmsford for the next 27 months. If for some reason my tour is cut short, I’ll have to hide out in Europe until January of 2011.
It is now D-Day minus 5, so I will continue on my quest to fit everything I think I’ll “need” into 2 suitcases with a 100lb. limit and a 107 inch total dimension (H+L+W) + (H+W+H).
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