55th Anniversary
Joe and I have sailed on Star Flyer (and sister ship Royal Clipper) many times, and long-time readers of this blog know how we love it. We wanted our kids -- and grandkids -- to have this experience. There was a lot of anxiety in 2020 and 2021 as we fine-tuned the trip but we pressed on.
The plan was exciting: Joe and I would spend a few days in Florence. One family would start out in London and another would also start in Florence. The fourth family would fly directly to the meeting place: Venice. And in Venice we'd all board Star Flyer for ten nights while we sailed to Athens, stopping at ports in Croatia, Macedonia, Greek Islands, Corfu. We'd stay an extra day in Athens before splitting up. While aboard the ship we'd celebrate Amy's birthday, Joe's and my 55th anniversary and Sherry and Chris's 23rd.
In the last weeks before setting forth we had a couple of worries. I developed a pesky ankle/calf problem that wasn't a DVT but prolly was Achilles tendinitis. One set of parents got Covid and held their breath until the window of contagion expired and their children remained negative.
Florence was hot. No two ways about it. It was HOT. But Tom and Anastasia and their children were there, filled with excitement and popping in on us, meeting us for dinner. We heard the Venice was cooler. Not by much but cooler.
And it was. Text messages flew like crazy as people arrived, checked in, visited our hotel, had meals together. Venice was . . . . well, Venice. Magical and mystical. Groups gathered and toured and dined together. It was glorious.
And then came Wednesday, the day to board the ship.
The text arrived right after breakfast. One of the grandchildren had tested positive for Covid. That particular family was going to have to bail as they knew they wouldn't be allowed to board. They made plans to return to the States on Friday.
I'd been annoyed by my usual airplane cold for a day or two, so I decided to go down the way to the pharmacy to be tested. Just in case.
Positive.
We'd all been together on and off for the past three days. No one would be allowed to board.
By late morning I was feeling like a bit more than a head cold. I was whupped. Andrew took charge, moving Joe and me to his Air B&B to plan, serving us a light lunch, finding us a nearby hotel for the night (our having been unceremoniously thrown out of our previous accommodations once they learned of our situation), began researching flights to Philadelphia, and moved us over to the new digs. He was amazing.
We messaged our cousin/travel agent who heroically was able to land us two seats on a nonstop to Philly for Thursday. The new hotel was about three notches above camping. But it was clean, it had a good breakfast, and the reception clerk was super accommodating in getting us a taxi to the airport.
The two, non-infected families considered various options and the next thing we knew they'd booked some kind of a one-night-stand Air B&B for Wednesday and had ordered train tickets to Rome for Thursday morning. They plan to spend four or five days in the Holy City and then return stateside. Most likely. We'll see.
My Covid at this point is a very low fever, some coughing and sneezing, and major tiredness. Kind of like a strange sort of head cold. The infected grandson has an even milder case.
When we got home, I looked at Facebook and the graphic shown above popped out at me. Yes, I/we am/are very, very disappointed at the loss of the very special trip. It will take a little while to get over.
What I'm most tuned into, however, is how Andrew in the midst of his own terrible disappointment, rose to the occasion, caring for his father and for me, without appearing to have to even think about what to do. And Amy, talking with her boys about whether to stay in Europe and visit another city or fly home and go to the beach, allowing them a voice in the decision. And Sherry and Chris and Tom and Anastasia, never whining or swearing or throwing a single thing, but hunkering down and looking at the possibilities, determined that the eight of them would do something together. It wouldn't be Star Flyer. But it would be wonderful.
We've raised three wonderful human beings. Who married three equally wonderful people. And I feel kind of overcome with gratitude at knowing that.
Comments
At least no one's flights were unexpectedly canceled!
Happy 55th!
Hugs!
I can relate at a much lesser scale. We just had an overnight getaway planned last month for our 44th anniversary. The night before we were to leave hubby tested positive for COVID. I canceled our reservation and we isolated from each other. Too little, too late. I tested positive 3 days later. We did not have other family around us, so no one else was affected.
Impressed with the way your family stepped up, took care of the two of you, and made the best of things.
ceci