Europe

On the day that my son and I left for spring training my daughter caught her flight to Dublin. I tracked her progress on the air tracker before I left the office but the rest of the flight, being international, I could not track. I drove to Arizona knowing only that she was somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. That was fine. I left her in God's hands. She was given the opportunity to travel to Europe to see some of the art work that she had studied in High School. It was a great opportunity. We were in Phoenix when she arrived in Dublin. I was worried sick about her.

My daughter informed us in October/November last year that her school (art history class) was planning a trip to Europe. More specifically Dublin, Wales, London, Paris and Normandy. We checked out the itinerary and saw the places that she would visit and we decided that since she was such a good student that we would send her. Her aunts and uncles donated several stacks of Euro's (bought late 2007 when the exchange rate was better). And, of course, mom and dad pitched in a few bucks (not to mention the ticket itself). She was all set to go. We made sure she would take plenty of pictures. She had a good digital camera with several memory cards and batteries.

I am glad she went. She called us three times. Once when she was having dinner in Dublin; Once when she was having a snack at the Eiffel Tower in Paris; and once when her connecting flight home got canceled and she had to spend the night in Dallas, Texas. Each phone call was essentially to let us know that she was OK, having fun, and couldn't talk long. These were the extent of the details that we received while she was gone on her ten day trip. We did receive a nice post card. We knew that we would have heard had anything gone wrong. We hoped she was enjoying her time.

The day came that we were to pick her up at the airport. Her flight arrived at 5:30 PM. My son and I picked her mother up at work and we all drove to the airport to pick her up. She arrived on time (albeit 24 hours late-- aircraft inspections and maintenance problems) and we asked her what she wanted to do for dinner. She wanted STEAK. We gathered her stuff and went to a local steak house for dinner. She read her trip journal to us on the way to the restaurant. She is such an excellent writer that I hope she captures these reflections and publishes them. Great stuff.

At dinner she handed out souvenirs. I got a CD of Irish music (which I love) and some pamphlets. I have four great interests in life - folk music, food, history and poetry. She also brought me two cookbooks - one from Wales and one from Normandy. She is such a great kid. She also told me that she took some pictures for me. Rodin's Thinker (which he originally called the Poet) was one. I could not wait to see that one.

We kind of glanced at the photos on the little photo screen on the camera. We got an idea that they would be great viewed on the television at home. We had planned a party for her. But that would wait till next week. I had to leave town on the weekend.

After dinner we went home. As we turned the corner to our house, my daughter asked where the other car was. My wife and I looked at each other and just groaned. I hate picking her up at work because we always forget her car somewhere. Yes, it has happened before. This time was not so bad. The other times we had left it farther away. So we dropped my daughter and son off at home and drove back to my wife's office for her car. A fitting end to a crazy week.

Two days after my daughter's arrival home I was finally able to get a look at the "Thinker" sculpture. This was the picture that my daughter took for me. I was looking over her shoulder as she was queuing it up on the computer. When it finally loaded she told me that she was looking through the window of the tour bus when they happened upon it. There it was! I was staring at the backside of the Thinker. Well, at least she was thinking about me. And she knew that I would like to see that piece of art. She is such a sweet kid.