Meeting Mary....let the trip begin!

May 5, 2013 - The three of us (Michael, Cindy and I) got up early and were on the road by 6:30, we decided to get a few hours' drive time in and stop for breakfast around 9am.  Today we were driving across the state of Colorado.  We had wanted to eat a good breakfast that would last us until dinner time.  We stopped for breakfast in Breckenridge Colorado at a very quaint restaurant.  The day was beautiful and sunny, no jacket needed.  Mary was to fly into the Denver airport and from there board a smaller plane to take her into Grand Junction.  Her flight was scheduled to land at 4pm in Grand Junction, our goal was to check into the hotel rooms that Mary had booked for us and drop off our luggage, then get to the airport to welcome Mary to our 'First Family Vacation'.  I was so excited to be seeing Mary again and spend valuable time with her.  You may remember that I met Mary for the first time on 10/27/2012, spent the day with her Michael and Cindy then saw Mary once again on 10/29/12.  I talked to Mary on the telephone frequently, but only saw her in-person twice.  Waiting at the airport I found myself mixed with all kinds of emotions: HAPPY, anxious, and apprehensive but mainly apprehension.  I would be spending the next nine days and nights in the same room with my sister whom I had only met face to face twice.  Would we get along in person for that many days?  Would I drive her crazy? Would she drive me crazy? Yes, we are related but would we actually like one another?  I was concerned about this and many other things that my mind conjured up.  After all we are sisters, we have half of the same blood flowing through our veins, yet our relationship had 50 years of “not knowing” one another.  We were raised differently yet in many ways we were raised the same.   Mary's plane was several hours late and our breakfast was wearing off.  I enjoy being in an airport 'people watching'.  I was also enjoying the quite time as it gave me time for prayer and meditation in hopes that this trip would be everything I dreamed it would be.  I found myself taking many deep breaths before Mary’s plane landed.

Finally the arrival/departure board at the airport showed that the flight Mary was on was soon to land.  I could barely breathe.  Who would Mary hug first? All kinds of silly irrelevant thoughts crept into my mind.  Passengers were now exiting the plane and coming towards us in the airport.  There was Mary, she looked great!  She approached the three of us smiling from ear to ear.   Mary approached me with her arms wide open for a hug.  Then Mary hugged Michael and then Cindy.  I offered to carry her 'carry on' as we walked towards the luggage carousel.  Michael grabbed Mary’s luggage off the carousel; we all made small talk and headed to the car.  Mary told us all about the reason why her flight was delayed two hours, technical issues in Denver.  We drove to the hotel so that Mary could unload her luggage and freshen up and then we were going to Main Street in Grand Junction, there were many restaurants with outdoor dining and shops, and there was an art exhibit with art lined up and down the street.  We could not have picked a better time to be in Grand Junction.  A very artsy town, I LOVED IT!

We decided to dine outside and each of us had a Margarita to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and to celebrate that tommorrow would be the start of our trip together.  After dinner we relaxed outside at our table and talked and talked until it was dark outside then headed back to our hotel.  Here is where my apprehensiveness lie.  I was concerned about spending the night with someone I really did not know.  Once we both were in our hotel room I mentioned to Mary as we both got ready for bed that I was apprehensive and explained why I felt that way, that I only met her twice and even though we spoke on the phone there was so much we did not know about one another.  Mary said "Carol, I too am apprehensive".   Once Mary and I said it out loud that we both had concerns the apprehension just drifted away from both of us, never to return again.  Mary and I were together for nine days and nights, only time apart was when we were in the restroom or showering.  We both agreed that we loved one another as roommates but mainly as sisters; our relationship grew so much during this trip. We completely bonded.  There is a saying “You can never love someone as much as you can miss them”.  I finally know what that means, what that really means to me in my life.  I love Michael, I see him every two weeks, he is a wonderful brother and means the world to me.  Mary however, I don’t see as she lives up east, she means everything to me and when apart I miss her and best of all, she misses me too.

All pictures seen in this post were taken the evening of May 5th on Main Street in Grand Junction.