Wednesday, October 7, 2009
FINALLY! After All These Years............
Nearly 25 years ago, I got a long awaited letter in the mail one spring day. I was at my
grandparents house and I remember running upstairs to open it in private. I recall opening
the letter to see a photo fall to the floor face down. I was anxious to turn it over to see the
face of a young girl, who went by the name of Sarah from Australia.
I've always had a interest in Australia and longed to have a pen pal from there. I was at the time obsessed with such groups like Men At Work and Inxs, if it was Australian, I was all about it.
My mom and my grandpa together took it upon themselves to see what they could do. My grandpa was at the time President of the local chapter of Kiwanis. So they sent a letter to the office in Melbourne Australia and eventually that letter fell into the hands of Sarah's father, Ian.
I've always had a interest in Australia and longed to have a pen pal from there. I was at the time obsessed with such groups like Men At Work and Inxs, if it was Australian, I was all about it.
My mom and my grandpa together took it upon themselves to see what they could do. My grandpa was at the time President of the local chapter of Kiwanis. So they sent a letter to the office in Melbourne Australia and eventually that letter fell into the hands of Sarah's father, Ian.
The photo on the left is Sarah's parent's, Ian and Trish and to the right is a photo with my late
grandfather, Robert with Sarah.
Over the years I've kept every letter, every package, little keepsakes that came from her. We have this unique friendship that continues to grow. We've been there for each other in good times and bad. We've shared laughs and tears and made memories I'll never forget.
I've had the pleasure of having Sarah visit me three times in the nearly 25 years, but I've never yet stepped onto Australian ground. I've dreamed about it, watched air fares sky rocket out of my means, I've hoped and wished and dreamed a little more....
A night on the town during our first meeting here in Columbus. You'll have to pardon the old
Over the years I've kept every letter, every package, little keepsakes that came from her. We have this unique friendship that continues to grow. We've been there for each other in good times and bad. We've shared laughs and tears and made memories I'll never forget.
I've had the pleasure of having Sarah visit me three times in the nearly 25 years, but I've never yet stepped onto Australian ground. I've dreamed about it, watched air fares sky rocket out of my means, I've hoped and wished and dreamed a little more....
A night on the town during our first meeting here in Columbus. You'll have to pardon the old
photograph. We had a wonderful meeting and shared so many laughs.
We got another chance to meet up about two years later as her father was becoming the International President of Kiwanis. It was an exciting time indeed to be a part of that. And then she visited me one more time when I was living out in Vegas.....let's just go with the old saying...'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' and leave it at that.....but we shared two great weeks together.
We got another chance to meet up about two years later as her father was becoming the International President of Kiwanis. It was an exciting time indeed to be a part of that. And then she visited me one more time when I was living out in Vegas.....let's just go with the old saying...'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' and leave it at that.....but we shared two great weeks together.
It's been ten years since we last saw one another and a lot has happened in both our lives. We've both gotten married and started our families. Sarah is married to Craig and they have two beautiful little girls, Grace and Claire. Well the time has finally arrived...thanks to the economy, I found a deal on Qantas Airlines I couldn't refuse and booked a flight. I'm sure Sarah had to pull herself off the floor with that news.......We are taking a extended family vacation this coming week and going to Australia!! I've been so excited and yet, I still can't believe it...it's very surreal to me. But I can't wait to get off that plane and be able to see her again and we are looking so forward to getting to know her family and seeing all these sights that I've seen photos of and heard so much about. So keep checking back....I'll do my best to try and post some photos here and there....I certainly will be blogging more vacation photos after our return. But first....we are off to Las Vegas where we are shooting two weddings this weekend!! I'm super excited about that too.
The cool thing about them is neither of the weddings is what you'd think, neon lights and wedding chapels......been there, done that.....I did my time as a wedding photographer out there..this will be a great change of scenery!
Labels: Personal
2 Comments:
Archive
April 2008May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011
July 2011
August 2011
September 2011
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
August 2012
September 2012
I am such a freak about pen pals that I'm kinda jealous ;) I had tons growing up... and I love stories like this. When I worked at the paper, I wrote about this two women, one from the town I live, the other England, who wrote each other for 40 years before the one came to visit here. CRAZY COOL! :)